med/surg to correctional, CMF vacaville, questions...

Neats, BSN · May 31, 2017

What made you apply and accept the job?

what should i expect in this type of setting? i'm afraid.

I am afraid some days when I worked in the prison system. It is full of mean angry people. You will go through a training course usually at least 4 weeks in duration if not more. This is mandatory. You will learn how the prison operates and learn verbal skills that can and will get you out of situations that could be life threatening. Being a little scared helps keep your senses up listen to the intuitive bells going off in your head, never be alone if you can avoid it. For the most part offenders want decent healthcare like us all. if you remain firm, fair and consistent you will exceed in this prison world.

i will be employed through an agency. should i have gone directly and applied?

Agency pay more, depends on how you like to work side by side other agency nurses and other full time employee nurses. If you are any good they will want to hire you.

how do i stand out and get hired on permanently? Just do the right things, do not get involved in inmates lives, have good boundaries and be a competent nurse. Your assessment skills have to be top notch, you will stand out by doing this, how do you know? You will notice inmates will start coming to you for medical services, correctional officers will start asking you questions-keep in mind HIPAA but you can provide general information about common side effects of medication, universal precautions and so forth. It is about educating the correctional officers as well.

Orca, ADN, ASN, RN · Jun 2, 2017

One person's opinion: If you're afraid, you shouldn't go on the yard. Being aware, on the other hand, is something that you should do every time you step out there.

As far as agency vs. direct hire, with the agency you won't have state benefits, nor the security of state employment.

rNursejitsu · Jun 3, 2017

i've been an RN for about 3 years now on a med/surg unit. i float to the telemetry floor about once a month. honestly, i feel like i didn't learn a thing here. i'm not sure if that makes any sense, even.

when i state afraid, i mean i am scared i do not possess the stellar assessment skills (i keep reading about) that is necessary for this type of environment. at least in the hospital, you have doctors notes, daily lab values, full h&p, treading vitals, basically, lots more resources...

i've been through a couple of codes and i'm not sure how i'm going to respond when somebody is actively deteriorating from being stabbed, hung, beat, etc... besides CPR.