Moving to Nevada, questions about working in corrections

Orca, ADN, ASN, RN · Feb 3, 2021

I have been employed with NDOC in the medical area for almost 20 years, and I have been an administrator for the past 13+. I believe that I can answer your questions.

As a general rule, our nursing staff works 12-hour shifts. Some facilities work 6-6 and others work 7-7. Our pay periods are two weeks long, and nurses work 80 hours during a pay period. You are scheduled either for six 12s and one eight, or five 12s and two tens.

Working for more than 16 hours in a stretch is illegal. Nobody stays for more than 16 hours, which has been determined to be the legal maximum for a 24-hour period.

There are no "departments" for nurses to be assigned to. Depending upon the facility, roles can include pill call, nurse sick call, provider sick call, man down team and intake. Some nurses also have specialized assignments, such as mental health units and infection control. One facility also has a hospital/outside clinic liaison.

Salaries are comparable to private employers, although the gap has widened some in recent years. That said, state employment has advantages that private employment does not. There is no chance of a takeover or shutdown. There is also a pension plan. You are vested in the pension plan after five years. Although there have been some passive attempts to privatize medical operations in NDOC in past years, the state has had very negative experiences with privatization, and there isn't much appetite for it.

Once you are off probation (one year), you have the protections of the merit system. You can still be terminated, but there is a process and there must be cause for it. Entry level positions are Correctional Nurse II and Psychiatric Nurse II. In practice, there is little to no distinction between CN II and PN II in terms of duties. The eventual goal is for all of our RN positions to be CN II. They are Grade 39 in the Nevada state employee pay table, and in order to remain at least reasonably competitive with private employers, all employees are brought in at step 10 (the top step in the pay table). Grade 39-10 is currently $91,350 per year. Bear in mind that there is no state income tax here, and state employees don't pay into Social Security.

We normally don't have open-ended announcements. Whenever a vacancy occurs, the facility DON submits a staffing requisition to HR, and an announcement is created. Our vacancies are generally not advertised in newspapers. The best way to stay abreast of announcements is to create a profile in NEATS (Nevada Employee Action and Timekeeping System - https://nvapps.state.nv.us). Once you have your profile set up (have entered your education, licensing and employment data), all that you have to do is click on the "apply" button when you see a job announcement that you want to apply for. This system lists all state jobs, not just NDOC. The requesting agency and the work location are listed in each announcement. We usually get certified interview lists from HR 1-2 weeks after an announcement closes, and we begin contacting people for interview. Generally speaking, new hires go to night shift, and they have the opportunity to come to days based upon seniority as vacancies occur.

Our women's facility is located in North Las Vegas at around I-15 and Lamb. The male facilities in the region are located off Cold Creek Road south of Indian Springs, north of the city along US 95. This is about 40 miles north of the city. I live in the northwest part of town, and my one-way commute is less than 25 miles. There is very little traffic, as I am well north of the main traffic flow.

Advancement opportunities occur, although you may have to go to another facility to get them (I have been assigned to all three facilities in the southern region at one time or another). Correctional Nurse III (Grade 41) is first level supervisor, and Director of Nursing Services I (Grade 44) and DONS II (Grade 45) are administrative positions.

I wouldn't have been with this outfit for as long as I have been if I wasn't satisfied overall. Some of the frustrating things are staffing (our staffing levels aren't nearly what California's are even when we are fully staffed), and we have difficulty hiring and retaining practitioners because salaries are well below what they could make in private practice.

PM me if you have additional questions.

CityofAngelsRN · Jan 24, 2023

Your response to OP was so detailed- thank you providing so much information! When the jobs are posted, do they indicate if the position is am or pm? I know you said generally they start new hires on nights, however, I'm wondering if the job post specifies. I've tried nights and I just can't hang LOL.