Newish RN, New to Corrections: How to be successful?

OrganizedChaos, LVN · Jan 7, 2017

I went into corrections with barely any experience as a nurse. You should do well once you learn how to handle mentally working in corrections.

Psych77 · Jan 12, 2017

I've been working in corrections for 3 months now. My experience consists of about 2 years in psych, so you are better prepared than me. However, they knew this when they hired me, so I'm pretty much transparent if I don't know something, or I look it up. I've looked up a lot and reviewed things at home to refresh my memory. I run things by nurses with a lot of experience often (I try to find out what their background is so I can ask them about what they are expert in); most nurses don't mind. I've felt a bit unprepared also, but...it seems people quit a lot in corrections, so we have that going for us. You'll see a lot of fake things, so its challenging if you don't know what the real presentation looks like. Review chest pain and seizures to start.

missmaryjennifer · Jan 17, 2017

I have 10 years nursing experience. I worked med/surg, skilled care, rehab, adolescent psych, TBI rehab and acute, and did the last 6 years in wound care before coming to corrections. I worked psych before being an RN as well, and so I have a lot of different experience. I would recommend reading essentials of correctional nursing (schoenly/knox, springer publishing). I think that the great thing about being a nurse is that you bring all of your experience to every job.

What I like about corrections nursing: No sales. its fantastic. A lot of nursing jobs are now based in $$$.

I do recommend getting your acute care experience, even if that means taking an on call or part time position while you work in corrections.

Its scarey because you have a lot of patients to oversee, so a good relationship with the jail officers is imperative. Always show them respect and do not undermine them in front of inmates. When you do that, you create a rupture in what should appear as a unified front. Go to jail meetings as well as nursing meetings.

Ask if you can shadow a guard for a day. I think that is good experience as well.

Anyway, I would recommend that book, its very good.

Learn the rules, abide by them, and ALWAYS ask questions.

That goes for any job. The worst thing an RN can do is think she knows more. Nurses always have to be willing to learn.

Good luck. :-)

carebear1980 · Jan 17, 2017

Well its been a week plus and I am starting to figure some things out. It is still challenging trying to find my way around the prison for keep lock , sick call. and med pass. Also scary because a couple CO's have twice left me alone on a unit with free inmate, and no one on the whole floor to call for help. That is against the rules but I heard you are not supposed to write the CO's up for anything. The NA told me last week that she could train her dog to do my job... I want to be successful but clearly there are some issues here.

Neats, BSN · Jan 18, 2017

I am a Correctional Health Care Manager and BSN. I have hired a lot of ADN nursing graduates and always ensured they are competent to do the job, if not then I ask them to leave or they just get terminated. There should be policies/procedures you need tofollow Look at how the expectations of sick call is run. There should be forms that you fill out. based on those forms i.e. review for your clinical assessment. In correctional nursing your assessment skills must be top notch and no shortcuts. Always use those assessment skills and document those assessment findings. It may seem difficult at first however once your feet get "a little wet with knowledge" you begin to gain the confidence to carry on.

I would observe others and recognize they maybe performing short cuts... and you MUST know the policies/procedures and learn how to do each one step by step. Take one policy/procedure home a week, study it and be familiar with it. An example is what you need to know for a chronic care disease like hypertension. What is in place for your chronic care population, What do you do if a correctional security staff member asks you if this person is on a mental health medication, what do you do if you notice an inmate has missed their medication the past 3 days or when custody notifies you that they just placed an inmate in AdSeg. Health care and Correctional Terminology is a must and with time you will get it. Start with your duties, and policy/procedures. You cannot go wrong with that knowledge and it keeps you out of trouble.

Working with custody is like working with another co-worker. I would not write custody employee up, rather I would just say oh you are leaving...I can come back when you have more time. I have been alone on a medical unit with up to 30 offenders and just me. Do I feel unsafe...yes and no. Learning great verbal skills will get you out of a lot of situations. The verbal skills I am talking about are like an interaction between you and a bartender or waitress. The banter back and forth in a respectful way, nothing bad just weather, sports without me telling them my favorite teams. I always had a joke of the day like did you hear about the 2 pretzels walking down the street....one was assaulted or my corny cow jokes.

Always have situation awareness, never walk out when there is movement if you do stop and place your back against the wall waiting for the movement of inmates...think safety the officer in the tower should be looking at the inmates not you and believe me if you are walking out during movement the officer will be looking at you for safety you are taking him/her away from his/her job of observing the inmate.

Be friends with correctional staff, with everyone as you want to go home to your family, I want to go home to my family. Always report any abnormal interaction, there is a policy on what needs to be reported and of course the associated forms that goes with it. I terminated a nurse because she allow the offender to use the medical phone (dialed to the outside, it dialed anywhere), he called his victim to let her know he was coming for her! 3 times in one evening. Another nurse told me about it, I had to report it.

softrbreeze · Jan 19, 2017

The NA told me last week that she could train her dog to do my job... I want to be successful but clearly there are some issues here.

Bless her heart, she clearly has no idea what your job actually is LOL

Medic2RN33 · Jan 21, 2017

I've been doing corrections for about a year now myself.

The biggest things are honesty and respect. Don't talk to them like they are lesser than you. Talk to them like people. I have learned that as a whole, I would rather be dealing with the prisoners, than the general public. They seem more appreciative as a whole.

Just be honest, don't tell them you'll do something and then don't do it. They do remember. And respect.

carebear1980 · Jan 28, 2017

I have resigned. Not because of the inmates/pt. population but because I cannot be successful in this toxic environment with the nurse manager who from day one has bullied and belittled me. She bullies everyone else as well. Examples yelling at one nurse about her request that she was not paid for hours she had worked and had requested the managers assistance in signing a form so she could get paid. Later from her office desk the manager knowing that several others could hear as well including Dentist, MD, and other nurses yelled at her and not a sentence but a full on five minute tirade. Another time the manager begin almost screaming at a nurse because medication orders had expired over the weekend (nurse getting yelled at was not responsible she just happened to be there when it was discovered). I was in the room and became so uncomfortable over the prolonged in your face yelling even though it was not directed at me that I had to leave the room. My poor burnt out co-workers some mirrored her in actions, others were burnt out telling patients oh but I was not allowed to call them patients, that they didn't care about them or there illness etc. I was yelled at to hurry up all the time, I was reprimanded if I dared to sit down while I wolfed down a sandwich, I was even threatened with losing my job for taking the time to eat less than 10 min. Even though I pointed out that not allowing any break in 8hrs was illegal or at the very least unethical. I am not saying I might not someday give corrections a try again just not at that place or any place like it. I would have to get a fair review from someone in nursing who I trusted. Thank you all for your responses....