Correctional Nursing-Last Stop For Nurses who can't make it anywhere else

Specialties Correctional

Published

I came to correctional nursing after 4 years of ER experience in a level 1 trauma center. I was burned-out and ready for a change. One of the first things I noticed hanging on the wall of the nurses station in the max security prison I accepted a postion in, was an ad to join the correctional nurses association to counteract the perception that correctional nurses were "less than perfect nurses". I must admit, at least in my experience, truer words have rarely been written. Some of the worst nurses I have ever seen have been correctional nurses. Most have not been able to "hack-it" anywhere else they have worked and correctional nursing is the last stop before getting out of nursing completely. I could tell you stories of botched assessments, med errors, inability to manage medical emergencies, inability to draw blood or start IV's that you would find hard to believe. After 3 years as a correctional nurse I'm going back to the ER where incompetence is not tolerated.

What a nice hubby! Well, we're glad to have you. :)

Thanks so much. I love it here, so many smart brains to pick!!

Specializes in CVOR,CNOR,NEURO,TRAUMA,TRANSPLANTS.

HMMM Your comments make me wonder, just how superior you hold yourself? Maybe you are uncomfortable with where you are? There will be mistakes in any departments.... so assuming that if you work corrections , your on the last ditch efforts of saving what career you have left, your highly mistaken..... I have met many that work so independently , that they surpass any expectations that I thought they would have. Very crafty people... can pick a liar up before the mouth even opens... but also some of the most compassionate people as well. Unjudgemental, and concerned with the well being of all. Maybe you just need to relocate... and if you think traveling is your area... Word of advice from a traveler... Lose the attitude, it will be picked up by a staff member immediately and you will be flamed in no time flat, and there is nothing faster than a nurse who hates you anyway because you make more money for the same job, but if you come with attitude you will be a scobby snack, at hello.

Zoe

I don't know where all of you are nursing, but I will say that Correctional Nursing in my experience is some of the best nursing there is. I have been in two facilities and learned more about nursing than any of my hospital work. I believe that correctional nursing is a challenge that few understand and have the patients to take up. Good luck back in the ER.

Please stay out of IL if you plan to travel as a nurse. We seem to have our share of negativity without adding one more sour puss.

I am surprised that you are still alive, intact and still employed by corrections with that attitude.

If you are talking to inmates the way you sound in this BB, you are only fostering distrust, disrepect and risking your safety, as well as that of your peers.

If you are that burnt out then get out!!!!!!!! You are a liability to the rest of the staff.

Specializes in Corrections, Psych, Med-Surg.

Another gentle reminder that this BB has a very useful "Ignore" feature. Simply click on "profile" of any message by someone you don't want to read any more, then select "put this person on my ignore list," and presto--you'll never see another post by that person ever again (after you leave the BB and then return, that is).

Liberal use of this feature can reduce irritation, and is HIGHLY recommended.

And the groovy part is that the "ignore" feature works even after they get their username and avatar changed. Multiple times. :rolleyes:

:roll :chuckle

Specializes in ER, ICU, Corrections.

When I first read that post I was so irritated and all I wanted to do is express my feelings on line.....well if I would have done that I would have been banned cause some of my thoughts were not the greatest in the world. I have now calmed down well enough to put my words on paper and pen so to speak.

I have worked in corrections for 13 years and I would not ever go back to hospital nursing. I have taken care of patients on the outside that gets upset with you if it takes to long to get them a cup of tea when you are in the next room trying to save someones life. I have worked with doctors that are sooo arrogant and that thinks that they are God themselves and we should be greatful that they are there. Well one thing in corrections, most of the physicians know that it is the nurses that keep them afloat, we are thier eyes and ears and we can see what is going on with the inmates. There have been times that I have called the doctors with just one of those "gut" feelings that we have and tell them that we need to send someone out cause of our feelings. The next day the doctor comes up and tells you what a great job that you did cause if you would have sat on your hands the inmate would have died.

I also like corrections cause it is the place that I have found nurses that will all work together more than any place that I have been before. When the day starts falling apart I have never had very many of the people that I work with say..."that is your section of inmates not mine....you need to take care of that." It is the greatest teamwork that I have ever found and I hope the person that started this thread finds some place that she likes to work and stops lambasting other people that like correctional nursing.:mad:

Specializes in Corrections, Psych, Med-Surg.

psycho writes: "I also like corrections cause it is the place that I have found nurses that will all work together more than any place that I have been before."

And if they don't, the results will immediately be seen in the staff-splitting and manipulation of those who are most vulnerable--to the detriment of everyone. As I mentioned earlier, Bud Allen's "Games Criminals Play" is the best book I have read on the subject. (And I learned about the book on this BB, to give due credit.)

Here is a quote from that book: "People who resign from the correctional profession never state inmate pressure as their reason for leaving. However, it has been estimated that between thirty to forty percent of them terminate their employment rather than have their supervisors and peers discover they have been victimized by inmates."

If the leg irons fit....

Originally posted by Stargazer

And the groovy part is that the "ignore" feature works even after they get their username and avatar changed. Multiple times. :rolleyes:

Really? Cool!

I did a stint as a student in a placement in corrections. I also did a stint in an acute psych ward. I loved every minute of each of those places, and have watched for opportunities to openup here since I graduated. I think corrections would be very close to my dream nursing position. I think the best nurse can suck the cosmic knob at what she/he is doing if that person hates being there.

Personally, the thought of going back to work on a med-surg floor turns my stomach and I KNOW when I was there I may not have looked competant sometimes. I was competant, just apathetic. Hated every second I was there and everybody knew it.

Could this be the reason some corrections nurses get a bad rap? It is a very tough place to be every day....

nadine

+ Add a Comment