Anyone have advice on offenders that abuse sick call

deyo321 · Jan 31, 2009

They are not refused care if they are indigent. The idea is that their canteen will pay for medical services before cheese doodles. So if you are debating whether you want candy vs seeing a doctor, you probably will live.

2003rn, ASN, RN · Feb 1, 2009

I work in a women's correctional facility, >450 inmates. We charge $3 for a sick call, there is $2 more if they are referred, $3 more if they complain about something other than the original sick call complaint. We are starting to give out nurse protocol packs, tylenol, motrin, cough tabs, etc, usually a 3 or 5 day supply with a $2 charge for the meds. The NP has decided that she will only write a 30 day script for eucerin cream and the jar of it has to last a month, the I/Ms are throwing a fit over that. Most of them want that and also medicated shampoo and acne meds, etc. Our sick call list hasn't decreased yet, but I have a feeling it will. We usually have 30-45 sick calls a day. One more thing...the other night a seg inmate was upset b/c her motrin order was up, it was 0230, I wasn't going to call the NP at that time of the night, any she was c/o of a headache and her bunions were hurting. The CO asked if we could see her, I told her it wasn't an emergency and for her to put in a sick call, she asked what would be considered an emergency, I said active bleeding or chest pain, etc., well, the CO went and told her, and she then said she had chest pain, the Sgt. wrote her up for that:) I would have seen her if it would have been an actual emergency, when she found out that they weren't going to strip her out and bring her down, she finally laid down and slept like a baby the rest of the night. :rolleyes: :smilecoffeeIlovecof

2003rn, ASN, RN · Feb 1, 2009

Another thing...Our I/M's get to order commisary a couple times a month, they get sodas, candy, cookies, pepperoni, ramien noodles, chips etc. The diabetics eat all that junk, then come to medical with a blood sugar over 500, I think they should be written up for self harm for that, but they have the right to order whatever they want and have the money for. :twocents:

Vito Andolini · Feb 3, 2009

Another thing...Our I/M's get to order commisary a couple times a month, they get sodas, candy, cookies, pepperoni, ramien noodles, chips etc. The diabetics eat all that junk, then come to medical with a blood sugar over 500, I think they should be written up for self harm for that, but they have the right to order whatever they want and have the money for.

Until there are provisions for diabetics to buy vegetables and protein sources, I'm not so sure they should be blamed for the whole problem of their sugars being out of whack. It takes tremendous will power to always eat as we should, esp when we're surrounded by others eating sugar, sugar, fat, fat and by no other real choices but to just drink water or be hungry.

And if we're going to castigate diabetics, we should castigate all obese, anorexics, every other food-centered illness.

Have the nurses tried educating whoever says inmates have the right to buy and eat whatever they can afford? Would it be violating their right somehow to get the right amended so they'd be forced to eat better? In fact, no one needs all the sugar and fat we Americans tend to eat. So to get the right amended would really be a favor to all. Get all junk food out. In with cauliflower and dried seaweed.

lpnflorida · Feb 3, 2009

I have never worked corrections so certainly have no understanding of how it is determined whether someone needs something medically or not.

If I were an inmate and had a headache I would hope I would be able to have an aspirin to get rid of it rather than suffer with it. I would hope someone would not simply say no I do not have a headache, or no it is the wrong time of day to request something. Or worse judge that it couldn't have been that bad as I fell asleep. When I am in pain, I lay down and close my eyes and hope that sleep will come .

I am asking how is it handled?

2003rn, ASN, RN · Feb 3, 2009

We have discussed the commissary list with the higher-ups. They refuse to make changes. Even the prison cafeteria serves bad choices. The inmates have all the bread and butter that they want(no limits) An ice cream scoop is used to dip the butter. Their idea of a high fiber diet is wheat bread instead of white. They have way too many starchy foods and a sweet kool aid type drink with every meal. Lots of processed meats, not very many salads or fresh fruit. I know they do not have much of a choice in the cafeteria and they do have to eat, I've seen a diabetic tray, it is no different than a regular tray, the high fiber tray has wheat bread instead of white. The diabetic snacks at night are huge...they get a bag meal with 2 (peanut butter/jelly)or (processed lunch meat/cheese) sandwiches, milk a piece of fruit. I don't know how they get by with serving what they do, but believe me, we have tried to educate the so called "dieticians" to no avail. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks.

2003rn, ASN, RN · Feb 3, 2009

To lpnflorida,

In our facility, the inmates fill out medical service requests when they have an illness, these requests are picked up and triaged everynight. If there is someone who is suffering from pain (toothache, severe headache, etc) the nurse calls and talks to the corrections officer and has them to check on the inmate, if the inmate is indeed in pain, they can be seen right away, if the officer reports that the inmate is sleeping, then they must wait until dayshift to be seen. Often, the inmates will fake an illness to get drugs. I know it's hard to distinguish which one indeed has pain, but when you watch them in the waiting room, laughing and talking...then they come into the exam room and act like they're having the worst pain ever, you start thinking they are just drug seeking. Most inmates can buy motrin, tylenol, rolaids, etc from commissary, so they have them on hand for headaches, etc. Hope this helps.

JamesJr. · Feb 8, 2009

I have a pretty random question, I guess. I see some of yall saying that you charge like $4 for a sick call, etc. Who gets this money?

everthesame, LPN, LVN · Feb 10, 2009

I have a pretty random question, I guess. I see some of yall saying that you charge like $4 for a sick call, etc. Who gets this money?

Good question but I don't have an answer. I work with juveniles and we aren't allowed to charge the little dearies because they are minors. I would love to charge these "kids" for their sick calls. I'm sure our sick call numbers would drop dramatically if these kids were going to have to part with some of their Cheetoh's money. :icon_roll

However, since they are juveniles they can't be expected to know potentially serious illness is more important than junk food. Also, again, since they are minors they are not allowed to buy tylenol, tums, etc...from commissary. Thus, job security. :lol2:

dreamon · Feb 10, 2009

I'm guessing whoever runs the prison gets those funds? It is a big business (or racket, depending on your view). I remember a few years ago someone told me the gov't gives the prison X amount of dollars per inmate to cover food (lets say $14) yet the food they receive may be about $4 worth. Anyone know the truth about this?

deyo321 · Feb 11, 2009

Trust me on the county level YOUR tax dollars are being spent. We are very cost conscious. Charging somebody $5.00 for a visit would best be put against our $9000.00 pharmacy bill, dontcha think?

deyo321 · Feb 11, 2009

Oh and I forgot don't believe that adult offenders know the difference between a potentially serious illness and the value of having cheetos either.