Am I right that this is nuts?

You are correct. This incident should not have happened. It is a shame that the chain of command failed her

The work relationship between medical staff and custody I would never believe if I didn't work in corrections. Sometimes I wonder if the Inmates or administration are bigger criminals. I have pepper spray on my belt always.

That would never happen in the jail I work in now - no civilian is allowed to be alone with any inmate, except for lawyers and then the inmate has eyes on him (out of hearing range). This facility is the safest I have ever been in. I have worked in two other facilities. One of them nurses were alone with inmates routinely, but not the ones classified as dangerous. The other jail was a small one and the security was almost non-existent. I was interviewing an accused murderer on the day he came to the facility. He was shackled to the booking bench by one leg and his arms were shackled at the wrists in front of his body but not secured to his body. I looked up at the end of the intake interview and i was totally alone. The deputy at the booking desk had slipped away and I had not noticed since I was so involved in the interview. I was sitting not far away from this guy on the bench (as I said a VERY small jail). Another time I was seeing an inmate patient (my office door was near the main desk) and when I called for the deputy to buzz him back into to his housing area, there was no one there. This guy was a new arrestee with multiple DV assault charges against him. Thankfully nothing bad ever happened there.

I have been alone with high profile inmates...white collar to Life without parole (LWOP) for murder. I have had a friend die in the prison system (she was a correctional officer who was transferring an offender form one building to another alone) I have been in 2 riots (one major). I remember in that major riot the inmates stated to other inmates leave Mrs...alone she will help you if you are really sick. My training has served me well however do I get scared...you bet.

I do not think any staff that is not correctional should be alone with an inmate, reality is that is not the case.

I think that if your medical unit really feels strongly about being left alone then your manager, HR and the correctional staff should meet and come up with defining policies to assist. Again based on revenue (state budget) it is not always ideal of an environment, but then again think of the emergency room where you are alone with patients who can potentially become violent and now days if you work in an emergent center then you have even less security staff at your disposal.

If I had my way I would pick a male prison each time because at least I know what is coming through medical.

I've been left alone with an unsecured inmate as retaliation for reporting the use of excessive force by a different officer.