Correctional Nursing Salary

Editorial Team / Admin · Aug 14, 2005

NurseNikki5 said:
Hey Everyone,
Does anybody know the average salary for a corrections nurse and/or how it compares to hospital pay. Also, do you usually need a certain amount of RN experience? I've been an RN for about 5 months now and working in a hospital setting and I absolutley hate it.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

I think that you could apply for a position withing the correctional facilities now. They will teach/orient you to their way of doing things. I am not familiar with the salary ranges in your state ( you did not state) institutions and corrrectional facilities. Someone will come along and answer that question for you.

In my area, they are BEGGING for nurses in correctional medicine. LPN, RN and NP. Physicians, too.

Oh, and, :balloons: Welcome to AllNurses.com :balloons:

NurseNikki5 · Aug 14, 2005

I'm in Central Florida and my base pay is 19.00 an hour

BigB · Aug 15, 2005

correctional LPN's make $25 an hour in california. The benifits / retirment is amazing though.

live4today, RN · Aug 15, 2005

What's the biggest fear correctional nurses face working with the inmate population?

TxCCNurseMedic · Aug 15, 2005

Nikki,

The Correctional Nursing Salary in Texas in some areas is slightly less in actual pay than what the hospitals offers. However, the benefits are great and can't compare to the hospitals. We have hired new graduate nurses, it will just depend on the hiring procedures at the particular location you are interested in. Yes the paper work in the Correctional setting is much different from the hospital, but the patient care is the same. Just remember that no matter where you work, the patient deserves the best care that you can give him. I've been at a CC Facility for several years and really don't want to go back to a hospital. There are many areas of nursing that you can go into and maybe you just haven't found yours yet. Also, it's possible it could be the hospital you are at. It's amazing how wonderful managers, co-workers and admin can make a difference.

joan jaeger · Aug 18, 2005

Hi, I work corrections in Washington state and make between 60,000 - 65,000 annually. The benefits are good, and there's lots of overtime. I make less than local hospital nurses but make more than nurses in small rual areas. I'm glad I made the switch to correctional nursing. I was burned out in a level three trauma center running my tushie off all day long. Though I would bet it makes a difference on the correctional facility, some can be scary. jj

BigB · Aug 18, 2005

cheerfuldoer said:
What's the biggest fear correctional nurses face working with the inmate population?

1.getting killed by an inmate..never turn your back on one.

2.contracting HIV/AIDS from an inmate (gigantic hiv/aids population in prison) from a bite or spit.

3. Getting spit on,and urine and feces tosses on us during med pass.

4. sexual harassment is a big deal. (well, for the female nurses)

corectional nursing will make you harder, colder. but its a way of life. i still prefer it to the hospital acute setting though. a lot of male nurses like myself enjoy it, alouth a lot of women nuses don't, understandably.

fiestynurse · Aug 20, 2005

BigB - Do you know of anyone that has contracted HIV/AIDS from being spit on? Highly unlikely.

BackOff · Aug 21, 2005

cheerfuldoer said:
What's the biggest fear correctional nurses face working with the inmate population?

Riot/hostage situation. Can happen anywhere. We had an incident last week when an inmate tried to take a detention officer hostage. She flipped, maced X2 and subdued him. Total lockdown is going on.

Crawsu · Sep 6, 2005

BigB said:
1.getting killed by an inmate..never turn your back on one.
2.contracting HIV/AIDS from an inmate (gigantic hiv/aids population in prison) from a bite or spit.
3. Getting spit on,and urine and feces tosses on us during med pass.
4. sexual harassment is a big deal. (well, for the female nurses)
corectional nursing will make you harder, colder. but its a way of life. i still prefer it to the hospital acute setting though. a lot of male nurses like myself enjoy it, alouth a lot of women nuses don't, understandably.

I don't know how long you've been in corrections, but I'm going on 10 years and I have been spat on once, by a psych patient. I was assaulted more than once in hospital nursing and feel much safer working in correctional nursing.

For the most part, the inmates treat the nurses with respect as thay know we are there to get them health care if that is what they need. I have even had other inmates reprimand a fellow inmate who is disrespectful to the nurse. And I and other nurses on my unit have been thanked by inmates who were helped by virtue of being incarcerated and getting medical care they would not have gotten on the outside.

Granted, I work in a jail setting, so our inmates are usually not long termers with nothing to lose. I suppose that dealing with lifers might be a bit more dangerous.

Still, I have never felt threatened in this setting, and there were times in the hospital that I didn't feel as safe as I do in the correctional environment.

maryk650 · Sep 13, 2005

NurseNikki5 said:
Hey Everyone,
Does anybody know the average salary for a corrections nurse and/or how it compares to hospital pay. Also, do you usually need a certain amount of RN experience? I've been an RN for about 5 months now and working in a hospital setting and I absolutley hate it.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

It depends on who you work for. And the county's budget. I don't think the pay will touch what you make in the hospital but the job is not a hard one.