Prison Hospital Nurse

[madisonnnn_]

Would becoming a prison nurse be a good career choice? Also, is it safe?

[crispycritter]

I personally did not enjoy working at a prison. Inmates are hard to deal with, nurse patient ratio was insane,always having to be on "guard" when dealing with the inmates. Majority of the CO's could care less about you or the inmates, too few doctors that cared, huge staffing turn overs and lack of staff. With all that said, the job is still doable and pays decent depending on your state, safety again depends on the prison, the yard working, or your nursing assignment.

I worked large female prison as a male, max security yards ( the troubled of the troubled), which had it's own issues. A lot of it depends on you as a person as a nurse and what you need at this point in your life. It is a job, but it can grind you down quickly if you let it. Sorry if this post is overly negative,but is not a job I will do again!

[valzRN, ASN, RN]

I guess I am the opposite... I love my job. I work at a state prison in FL, all men... maybe that's the difference. I would NEVER work in a womens prison! I delt with women in the county jail and I hated working with the women. They are too needy. Yes... I do have to agree somewhat with the above statement... Some COs do not care, as some of the Drs. But there are some that do. As far as security, all nurses have at least 1 CO with them at all times, if not more. In the dorm that I work in we have at least 2 when the IM is out of the cell (like for blood draws) and a lot of the time there are 3 in the room. They are handcuffed, black boxed, and shackled so it's not like they can do much. Yanno? It takes a special kind of person to work in corrections. It doesn't bother me, and I totally prefer it over hospital nursing any day! You have to have thick skin in this kind of nursing though. It's not for everyone.