Is your infirmary busy?

reddellrn · Oct 1, 2009

yes my infirmary is super busy. as the rn i have to do the treatments then sick call and any emergency that come along, then log in the sick calls in the sick call book, then when time permits do triage in the sick call book and make the appropriate referals. after sick call i pull up meds for the cell block then pull up meds for the insulin inmates. takes 2-3 hrs. after that it usually is time to go to cell block and give meds. back to the infirmary to give the insulin inmates their meds. when that is finished it is about 5:30 pm. now here come the trips which we have to go through papers and see what they need. finish report book. now keep in mind i also have to do the phd's and more emergencys inbetween all of this. most of the inmates have diabeties, htn, high cholesterol. :mad:

Truegem · Oct 2, 2009

We get Opiate W/D, drug W/D, some post-op (not fresh post-op), quadriplegics, etc. We also house C-PAPs there. Not too busy, but it can be, depending on what happens.

Reddell, sounds like you are working in two places at once! Yikes! =/

Eirene, ASN, RN · Oct 2, 2009

Our infirmary is non-stop! Each nurse is assigned a specific job assignment for the month.

I'll give you some examples:

Infirmary Nurse: In charge of all of the inpatients held. We have such a wide variety of different issues. Some have gotten into fights and have broken jaws. Others have just returned from the hospital because of surgery. Others have minor complaints that the physician wants to watch closely for 24 hours (guys that have gotten drunk from hooch, abdominal pain, etc.)

Med Nurse: In charge of the medication lines during pill call and insulin. This is a huge set up since we have over 2,500 inmates. It usually takes up the whole shift.

"Outs" Nurse: In charge of assessing and medicating the patients in the hole, death row, and the low-security level camp. This is also a huge responsibility and takes up the whole shift since you have to go to different sections of the prison.

Sick-call Nurse: In charge of nurses sick call. We see EVERYTHING from common colds, broken bones, dressing changes and follow up with medications. You never know what is going to happen next.

Emergency Nurse: More often than not- we do not have enough staff for this to be assigned; we usually take turns on calls. The CO will call us and state he has an inmate that needs to be seen and cannot walk to the infirmary (chest pain, seizures, etc). We get in our little car and drive to the pods. We have emergency O2, nitro, dressings, etc. in our bag.

Our infirmary is NON-stop! I love every minute of it.

stephied · Oct 2, 2009

Thanks to all of you for the comments. I can see that I will need to brush up on a few areas of nursing functions. I would rather be busy, busy, busy than not have enough to do.

katkonk, BSN, RN · Oct 5, 2009

ReddellRN and Eirene, just curious: which states do you practice in? I like to compare descriptions of which nurses do what from state to state. Thanks.

reddellrn · Oct 5, 2009

louisiana