1,000 inmates 4 night nurses.......

Specialties Correctional

Published

I applied for a job and thats what the ratio is. Does that sound right? Sounds like an awful lot to me.

Specializes in Psych, Informatics, Biostatistics.

at all turns bad you may ship the client out fast. If they are recuperating from a surgery and/or illness they may stay in the infirmary. Medications are all prepoured.

I applied for a job and thats what the ratio is. Does that sound right? Sounds like an awful lot to me.

I'm impressed! Four nurses to 1,000 inmates... that's fantastic! At our facility, we have one (1) nurse on the night shift, which is 11p-7a. If an IM gets sick or falls out, there is always 1-3 officers that escort him to medical and stays there until the IM leaves the unit.

I'm impressed! Four nurses to 1,000 inmates... that's fantastic! At our facility, we have one (1) nurse on the night shift, which is 11p-7a. If an IM gets sick or falls out, there is always 1-3 officers that escort him to medical and stays there until the IM leaves the unit.

Looks like getting the job may be quite competetive. There was an add in the paper so I called.... la de da....anyway we talked for a while a couple of times and they told me I couldn't fill out an application because they ran out :) ... oh well I'm still going to try.

I'm going to try for the perdium position and if I like it maybe go full time. The onlly thing I don't like about it is the hours........8 hour shifts which I absolutely hate. My thinking is......if I like it and they like me maybe we can work out a 12 hour shift schedule. So we'll see.

Looks like getting the job may be quite competetive. There was an add in the paper so I called.... la de da....anyway we talked for a while a couple of times and they told me I couldn't fill out an application because they ran out :) ... oh well I'm still going to try.

I'm going to try for the perdium position and if I like it maybe go full time. The onlly thing I don't like about it is the hours........8 hour shifts which I absolutely hate. My thinking is......if I like it and they like me maybe we can work out a 12 hour shift schedule. So we'll see.

That's all you can do... wait and see. On weekends at our facility, nurses can work a 12 hr. or 16 hour shift....... not too shabby

mcmike55 - In a Correctional setting, the majority of inmates are healthy. After the initial medical screening, you don't see most of these inmates again. That's why that intake screening is so important. The key is identifying problems and getting inmates seen by medical or psych and getting them proper treatment or medication. You do a lot of pill passing!

I would discourage passing out Tylenol like candy, as oneLoneNurse, has stated. Inmates are good candidates for Tylenol toxicity that could result in liver or kidney failure. There have been deaths in correctional facilities associated with this. Inmates already have compromised livers due to years of alcohol and drug abuse. I would make good assessments, as to the need for this medication and document very well. There should be well written protocols for it's use. Also, they should be encouraged to buy Tylenol from the commissary and it should be given to them in limited supplies.

Also, oneLoneNurse (I don't mean to pick on you) prepouring medications is highly discouraged. It sets you up for medications errors. Is your site accredited by the NCCHC?

Good Luck with your interview dazzle256!!

I can't believe that you pre-set your meds for pill line! And carry Tylenol in your pocket?!? Aren't you bothered with every excuse in the book on why someone needs Tylenol? The inmates have to fill out sick call to be evaluated before they get any type of meds from medical, and then it's usually Ibuprofen that we give. We can't even set benadryl up in cups before pill line. If we were to get caught doing such a thing, we would be terminated. I can understand why too. What if you have two inmates with similiar names (and we do have them) and you give the wrong one and something happens? It's their word against ours and I'm pretty certain that their attorneys would rake us across the coals.

I know that pre-setting makes things go faster... but is it safer? In my opion, pre-setting meds can cause a person a world of problems.

Just my two cents worth.

Specializes in Psych, Informatics, Biostatistics.

thats the way it was done. We pre-poured all medications and carried tylenol in our pockets. I totally agree with you about liver toxicity. Whether you agreed with this policy or not if you wanted to work there you might want to abide by the routine.

Most worrisome to me was the school I worked in over 10 years ago. You would pre pour for 100 kids both for the 1600s and the 2000s all at the same time. The 2000s you would put in pill bottles with the kid's name on it then in bags for each cottage.

Specializes in Hospice, corrections, psychiatry, rehab, LTC.

Sounds like luxury to me. I work for the Nevada Department of Corrections, and we carry two nurses at night in a facility with over 2,300 inmates.

Specializes in correctional-CCHCP/detox nurse, DOULA-Birth Assist.

We have 1 nurse day or nights for over 225 inmate at our facility and over 100 at our half-way houses. We do pretty good, our problems are with the half-way houses, they have no medical staff on site at all, all medical needs return to jail.

We have 3 night nurses for about 2000 inmates. We prepour meds for lock down units, but every inmate must show his/her picture ID with name for meds.

You have to be careful and check ID"S. Many will take meds if offered even if not prescribed. Who knows why? My facility still offers tylenol and ASA if requested. I don't like the policy, but it is in place, and inmates do not want to hear about health risks for OTC meds, they want anything that's free and will give them time out of the unit. Many are looking for any excuse to sue the state or county, and will do whatever it takes to find grounds for a suit.

We usually have 4 nurses scheduled for day shift, and that includes sick call, treatments, and med passes. I think that 4 on nights would be a luxury, wish we had such great staffing. We are accredited by NCCHC. Make sure that your prospective employer is as well, it will decrease the risk of litigation.

We currently run one RN and one LNA on 3rd shift. PHS has taken over the contract and is getting rid of the RN and LNA. They have decded, in their great wisdom, that only an LPN is needed on 3rd shift in our 400 bed facility. We have a very medically busy prison with around 150 CIC's, and about 400 meds each med pass.

It may or may not be a heavy case load. It is assumed that the correctional facility census is 1000 and if you divide that number by 4 Nurses that works out to a ratio of 250 inmates to 1 nurse. What percentage of 250 would you expect to require the services of the nurse. Although you do not so state one could assume that this is a relatively young population (no chronically ill, geriatric patients) that would only infrequently require nursing services.

It is noted that you indicate "night nurses" and if that means 11 to 7 or 12 to 8 a.m. then I would think that 4 nurses would be quite adequate since the majority of the patients are asleep. You do not indicate what other responsibilities are required of the nurse. Are new inmates admitted during the night shift that require screening, i.e., planting of PPD, Medical History, etc. are the inmates male or female? Does the facility have an inpatient clinic or ward requiring one nurse to monitor the patients? If you were to supply more information I am sure you would get a fairly good response.

Try taking on 3000 inmates and two night nurses. Not really as bad as it sounds, the work gets done.:)
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