Need opinion from non-Corrections nurses

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Just curious what your views are on corrections nursing and the nurses that do it.

I only seem to hear about corrections nursing in the news when things go wrong. I remember in nursing school about a case in my area where a prisoner died in the infirmary from dehydration. He was admitted with a psych diagnosis, and I guess the staff had not been tracking intake and output and some nurses lost their licenses for that.

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Specializes in retired LTC.
Really? People look down on Onc? We get called all the time in my hospital by nurses on other floors for our expertise. Huh, interesting. I haven't gotten this impression at all and I've been in Onc almost 8 years.
Your expertise, most assuredly, IS valued, but the specialty, ITSELF, does NOT carry the allure and coveted desirability of other specialties in nsg. Areas like ICU/ER, peds, NICU, L&D are all high glamour, adrenaline-pumping, warm-fuzzy, bling-bling specialties, or so it would appear to many. Even many in healthcare lean that way (take note of the many AN postings of nurses who denigrate LTC & HH as career 'dead-ends'). And you'll never see a TV show with Julianne Marguiles and George Clooney nursing from a Detroit or Camden prison! How many high schoolers, nsg school students and new grads verbalize they would just LOOOOVE their DREEEAM jobs to be in Corrections?

That thread by the Commuter even discussed how within the field on oncology there even was a subtle hierarchy that ranked breast cancer high on the value scale as opposed to orotrachial and colon cancers being more devalued.

I never consciously thought that way, however, after that article, I saw the reality exposed. And yes, there is a discriminatory value system within nsg. Maybe because I do LTC (you know, those 'old, confused, incont, old people' (SARCASTIC HERE)) I am more sensitive. All nsg fields/specialties DESERVE to be valued. And kudos to those who work in those less glamorous fields

Don't mean to highjack OP's thread, so to reiterate, I do respect those nurses in Corrections and I thank them for doing a job that needs to be done.

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Specializes in Med Surg/Ortho.

I think correctional nurses are hardcore. That is not an area I see myself in. I would be too intimidated.

And as for oncology nurses, I have such respect for them. A friend of mine is an oncology nurse, and I am amazed by her every day. I would think that would be a great specialty to get into.

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You need med surg and some urgent care or ED experience to be a good corrections nurse.

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