Prison?

ohiorn_78 · Dec 30, 2005

One of my friends has worked in jails and prisons her entire 13 years in the nursing field. She absolutely loves it. She must also think that it is safe work since she has three children. When I was in school we had an agency come in and pitch the offer about working in correctional facilities and offering awesome benefits and wageds of $38/hr. My friend also told me that in prison you mostly deal with colds and STD's, so if that doesn't bother you, I say go for it.

ZZTopRN, BSN, RN · Dec 31, 2005

I have also worked in jails and prisons in the past with agencies. I preferred them to hospitals. I am supposed to start working in a prison through an agency, everything is go except they are still waiting for my "gait pass." Security clearance. I've had a live-scan twice this year, one for my license renewal, and the other for a job and they only took a couple of days. But maybe because it is the holiday season, it's taking longer.

Anyway, I have no problem working at the jail. I think it would be exceedingly rare if you didn't have a CO with you when you were with an inmate. I would suppose that also would be a big, big liability issue. It is something you will have to ask when you orient or interviewed.

As far as you being "nailed" on the outside, I guess that could happen. I once saw a documentary of a max prison in CA called "Pelican Bay," I think the name was. It is true that inmates can make contact to the outside world to do bad stuff to people they don't like. But why would they want to target a nurse? Unless the nurse really made herself enemies there. How many times do you see this happening to nurses? I have read of a couple on this board, but that is a rare percent. I have been in a max prison where an inmate was stabbed so many times the blood was all over and the inmate was bleeding so badly, the PA and I were both working hard to get all the IVs started we could find. We had all of our protective gear, but we were never in danger. The COs were there, and he had been brought from the area where it happened. Not to scare you, but I feel it is safer than some hospital ER where a patient comes in and shoots everyone. I saw this in a medical journal one time. It happened somewhere in Colorado. A man comes into an ER with a gun in his hand and the doc says "you look angry." He shot the doc and the 2 other nurses to death. I think lawyers and some doctors or police would be more the ones that would be targeted.

But I have never felt unsafe. Even when a known inmate was brought up to the clinic on a stretcher carried by four guards pretending to be unresponsive, I gave him the old smelling salts and ran out the door. The four guards were in total control as he tried to tear everything up. As I said, don't mean to scare you, but I always had good protection. That's been my experience. Neither recommending or not recommending.

crjnursewarrior · Dec 31, 2005

Jen42...

Some things that you need to take into consideration are: Is it medium security, maximum security prison? Keep in mind that med. security prisons grant inmates a lot more freedoms then do jails or max. security prisons. This, anyway, was my experience. I worked at a med. security facility and there were times when you were somewhat "alone" with inmates. The trustees more or less roamed the halls at times without officer supervision. The Nurse Sick Call was "open" meaning that during the hours of 1 to 4 pm any inmate could come to NSC, so there might have been like 20 inmates in the waiting area at any one time with one officer sitting at a desk in the waiting area. I feel much safer at the jail, inmates are NEVER without officer, medical unit is LOCKED. The jail, basically, (the one I'm at) is max. security. Inmates are never out of the pods unsupervised. I imagine that bad things happen anywhere. A corrections nurse must always, therefore, be alert to her/his surroundings and treat all inmates firm, fair, and consistently. It has been my experience that if you treat all inmates with respect until they give you a reason not to, things go pretty smoothly. You have worked in a jail, so you probably know all of this already. Just always remember that and abide by facility policies/procedures(they exist for our safety and the officers safety) and you should do fine!:wink2:

Best wishes!

crjnursewarrior

BigB · Jan 4, 2006

i recommed you stay away from the maximum security prisons with the "lifers". These prisoners will never get out of prison and many will slit your throat in a second if they have the opportunity to. Remember, they have nothing to lose.

Minuim security is a better bet as these prisoners have more rights and many will be leaving prison soon.

BSNinTX · Jan 5, 2006

Actually, in many cases people with life sentences do very well in prisons and give you the least trouble. They have accepted their lot, and settle into the life of prison. Of course, there are exceptions and in many cases it depends on the way they are treated in the system.

All inmates, no matter what their security status, have the same rights. What differs is the privileges they are given, and the restrictions that are placed on their rights. A failure to understand this in any correctional setting is a recipe for disaster.

Not all minimum security inmates are leaving prison soon. Many of our minimum security inmates are now coming to us with 5, 10, 15, and even 20 year sentences.

i recommed you stay away from the maximum security prisons with the "lifers". These prisoners will never get out of prison and many will slit your throat in a second if they have the opportunity to. Remember, they have nothing to lose.
Minuim security is a better bet as these prisoners have more rights and many will be leaving prison soon.

BigB · Jan 5, 2006

I see your point but I have known too many CO's and nurses that have been attacked by "lifers", who get nothing but a slap on the wrist as punishment as many already are locked down 23 hours a day before attacking staff.

Would you rather work around murders or white collar criminals? Which would you feel safer around?

BSNinTX · Jan 5, 2006

Actuallty, I work with both. I don't know from one patient to another what they are in for, what their sentence is, etc. I simply treat them all the same.

I see your point but I have known too many CO's and nurses that have been attacked by "lifers", who get nothing but a slap on the wrist as punishment as many already are locked down 23 hours a day before attacking staff.
Would you rather work around murders or white collar criminals? Which would you feel safer around?

jubeepepper · Jan 6, 2006

Now, I actually prefer the Max security because (at least where I am at) they are very monitered, and have settled into a life in prison. The ones that are getting out are the ones that scare me. I work on the psychiatric unit at a big max. security prison and the ones awaiting trail or just there for mental health reasons are more unpredictable then the lifers. Also, anyone with a history of being violent in prison is on lockdown status and I do NOT open even the trap door without custody. I am asked to by staff all the time, but no way I am getting myself injured, then I would be to blame. The rules are there for a reason.

Also, a friend of mine says she feels safer at the prison the she does at walmart because at least she knows what shes up against. You never know out on the street.