New correctional nurse

[nadenka]

Hello I just got hired as a corrections and nurse, and I've heard from so many other nurses that my license was in jeopardy working there. Can anyone  here tell me if this is true or not? Why would my license be more at risk working inside of a prison than a regular hospital? 

[Conqueror Slothful]

I am aiming at a correctional nurse position. I would guess that most likely none of the people who have said that about prison nursing have ever worked there and have only ever spoken to people who left those positions because they did not like it. People who dislike a thing are more likely to say that the thing is bad. 

[Davey Do]

Working in a government run institution has a tendency to make bureaucratic pencil-necked geeks overreact, and a small infraction can be blown way out of proportion.

For example, while working at a state hospital back in the early '90's, during an unrelated investigation, a comment made by Tech/CNA led to charges of resident neglect/abuse brought against me, which went on my record.

It took 2 1/2 years for the INA to have the charges sponged from my record and for me to receive back pay for the 15-day suspension. I had already received unemployment benefits for one of the two weeks of suspension, as a one week waiting period was the SOP, and the IDES adjudicator ruled the charges unfounded.

The prison system may be like this, and to use an analogy, sometimes we need to be more concerned about those who run the train than the train bandits.

 

 

[Cowgirl007, ASN, RN]

"Treat every patient like they have a lawyer, because they do.” This was the advice I received as a new corrections RN. Be on point with your charting and follow protocols. There's also a lot of pressure from corrections to minimize sending inmates out if they need diagnostics that are unavailable inside the facility.