Interview

f1j1nurse23 · Apr 11, 2013

Hi everyone! I am a student nurse and I am working on a project about nursing in correctional facilities. I was wondering if there are any nurses out there who currently work or used to work in a correctional facility who woudl be willing to answer some questions for me! I listed a few below. Please feel free to answer any or all of them. Thank you so much!
What kind of facility do/did you workin?
What is your background in nursing?
What skills do you rely most heavily on?
What is the facility like? How many beds? Is it like a hospital unit or a clinic?
Is there a doctor there every day?
What is your relationship with the guards like?
Why did you decide to become a nurse in a correctional facility?
What experience do you recommend prior to working at a correctional facility?
What is the biggest challenge working in a correctional facility?
What is a typical day like?
What is your relationship with your patients like?
What is the biggest reward or working in a correctional facility?
Have you ever had contact intentional or not with patients after they are released?
How often do you feel like the inmates are trying to manipulate you? How do you handle this?
Have you ever find yourself in a dangerous situation? How did you handle it?
Why did you decide to stop working in a correctional facility?

1. I work for a county jail.

2. I went from graduating nursing school to working in corrections the day after I passed my boards.

3. Assessment, assessment, assessment

4. I work for a private company who contracts with jails in many counties in Northern Cali. My particular county has 4 facilities. One is men's jail, this is where all the males are brought in for intakes, the other one is a safety center where females are brought in for intake and also housed there. This center also houses males ( separately off course ) and has approx 700 inmates varying in medical needs. There is another center where the " healthy" inmates are housed, ppl with no immediate medical problems or history. When I do sick calls they are brought to me in a room that is set up like a doc office with an exam table and a computer. A deputy is always with me.

5. Relationship with deputies is important as this enables you to get your job done in a timely manner. My relationship with most deputies is good. We are friendly but still professional with each other.

6. I knew going into nursing school that I did not want to work in a hospital. I like the autonomy of a correctional nurse. There's a standardized procedure that you can follow and it also requires you to think on your feet a lot and use your Assessment skills and be relatively good at psych nursing.

7. Biggest challenge.. Somedays you hv to be a med surg nurse, a psych nurse, an ER nurse and a L&D nurse all in a days work. Other challenge is working and getting along with law enforcement officers who are sometimes too stubborn, a lot of education of custody staff goes hand in hand as part of my job since most officers don't care about the welfare of an inmate.

8.typical day depends on what shift you work. Since I work both morning and pm shifts sometimes my days are different. Morning shift does all sick calls, intakes and responds to man down calls. Also at the facility I currently work in the RN is in charge of checking vitals and giving meds to inmates who are on the alcohol withdrawal protocol or drug withdrawal protocols. PM shift is in charge of intakes, man downs and withdrawals also. The LVNs are generally in charge of all med passes, diabetic treatment and wound cares.... This varies in facilities. I used to work in another county but for the same company and the RN was in charge of diabetic and wound cares over there.. But off course the inmate population was half in that County.

9. Relationship with inmates.... Strictly professional. No exchange of anything personal. Most of my patients know me only as nurse or my initials, I prefer it that way and you want to keep it that way. I am nice and polite to them, I listen, I do my own assessments, you always have to be careful of manipulators and look out for that.

10. Providing medical care to inmates requires a lot of empathy, understanding and pretty much putting all biases aside. Most days I'm able to do that without fail n pride myself for that but other days are trying and draining, but I do love my job and I love the correctional setting, collaborating with law enforcement and working in this challenging environment is the best thing about my job. I do know its not for everyone though.

11. Oh yes. Not intentional but sometimes I'll be in Target and I'll here "Hey nurse! How are ya... That's when I wanna turn around n run. Instead I wave politely and get the hell out of the place ASAP. Word of advice. If you are going to work at the county level, don't live in the same county as you work you. I can never take my child anywhere with me because of this.

12.manipulation is a part of working with this population. When you have done it for more than a year and get familiar with the population and their day in day out problems you will learn to recognize it fast. Be firm, set limits and the same rules apply to everyone. A firm "no you can't have that" usually suffices. Once they know they are not getting anything out of you they stop trying.

13. I've been in corrections for about three years now n never found myself in a dangerous situation. Off course I'm always aware of my surroundings and go nowhere without a deputy.

14. I'm a correctional nurse and love my job. Definitely my cup of tea and have no plans to leave.

Hope this helps

MichaelaM,RN, BSN, RN · May 8, 2013

What kind of facility do/did you workin?- I work in a multi-city misdemeanant jail

What is your background in nursing?- Addiction/Corrections

What skills do you rely most heavily on?- Triage, Time Management, Med Pass, Dressing Changes

What is the facility like? How many beds? Is it like a hospital unit or a clinic?- 800 beds (400 full right now), more like an urgent care and Chronic care clinic.

Is there a doctor there every day?- ARNP yes, MD 4h/week

What is your relationship with the guards like?- Excellent, they are wonderful

Why did you decide to become a nurse in a correctional facility?- I am comfortable with this population.

What experience do you recommend prior to working at a correctional facility?- Work in an environment with a diverse population. Be comfortable with a high volume patient load.

What is the biggest challenge working in a correctional facility?- Having enough staff to get all of the work done!

What is a typical day like?- Med pass, Sick call clinic, Verifying medications (calling pharmacies and asking what current meds an inmate is on), Booking triage.

What is your relationship with your patients like?- Good for the most part. They can be snotty and mouthy, but they are individuals. You have to be in charge of the relationship. What you say goes, or you end the interaction.

What is the biggest reward or working in a correctional facility?- The paycheck.

Have you ever had contact intentional or not with patients after they are released?- no.

How often do you feel like the inmates are trying to manipulate you? How do you handle this?- End the interaction. Always have a heavy dose of skeptecism.

Have you ever find yourself in a dangerous situation? How did you handle it?- no, officers are always near.

Why did you decide to stop working in a correctional facility?- n/a