CorrRx

YES! I have just enrolled in a gym, got a personal trainier and am about to start a doctor ordered hydrotherapy class, on top of waiting impatiently for my electric bike to arrive. I plan on commuting to work which should be dead easy I only live 4 miles away> But I am soooo out of shape and in daily pain (hip replacement in the future.) I hope it will help. I'd love to have and give support to others!

Congratualtions! It's tough to stand up for yourself against such stern and authoratative opposition, I commend your stalwart advocacy. Often what the officers often don't "get" is that we are there for them as much or even more than for the patients, we become their Risk Management, the system that relieves them of having to make decisions they are not trained for nor should be, with likely biased judgements. You do your job, and I will do mine and we can even do it them together! For every inamte that successfully pulls one over on medical, there are ten who will get life, limb, and other valued functioning saved!!! We ALL rock! It is your administrators job to make sure it is understood how well you performed and how much grief and pain you saved EVERYONE in this situation, on top of a very lucky man's life.

911. If it is not in your Policies and Procedures manual, if it is not backed by protocol, Don't do it. Otherwize you are on your own legally, and even the person whos very life you may have tried to save can go for you legally if the outcome is not positive (and sometimes even when it is). At least thats how it is in California. It is worth checking out your states' Good Samaratan law, and always utilize your work place legal consul with these kind of questions. We had a similiar one in the county I work in. Our discussion was about inmate visitors, that was our conundrum, were we responsible? Our answer was: Any procedure or treatment that is provided to an individual whom is not your patient, in an emergency, with the amount of information available at the time of the emergency, making a reasonable decision (within your scope of practice and skills, with the information you have available) will likely not be held responsible by a jury. So the other guideline is; Is it within the scope of your practice? If it is not within the scope of your practice, don'tdo it. Our risk managment decided that since we were medical personel, the community would probably expect us to do something to assist the person in emergency (and not stand by watching), but it must be reasonable and within the scope of practice.

Seriously, do not put up with that. Is it privitized care, state or what? I hope you do have a union, and if not, I would run to find a healthier work setting. Document document document. Names, dates, events, witnesses. You sound like a lawyer may be needed in your future: either to defend a worker's comp suit (how dangerous!); or a stress disability - harrassment case which you have by the way. Such people abusing such power should not be tolerated. Doing so allows it to fester, on many many levels. Drop a dime for everyone. I am sorry to hear this, as I am a Mass girl who found her corrections career in California. Someday I may want to come back "home" to work.

The state sytem is set up to be pretty rigid I think. They may be able to write a letter to get you in at a higher grade, but I dont know. They are paying pretty well now anyhow aren't they? I work county jail in California, and the county system is also rigid. All entry level personnel start toward the bottom, however it can be modified based on experience. Managers can write letters justifying a higher grade of pay. Since the prison health care system is in recievership, there have been changes, it is worth persuing. However, if that is the policy, and you stand your ground, you may simply find yourself not being hired.

I see this an old thread, but it is a new issue for me. I am a Nurse Manager of Jail health service. We have a court order, he is 24 days into his strike. Our issue is that we are damned if we do and damned if we don't. Ethically we have been unable to find a an MD who will do it. I haven't dropped a tube in over 20 years. Do i do it and reisk being sued? He has minor children and apparently that has some bearing on a legal outcome. So with this caveat in mind he on one hand states -we can not force feed him (it has literally been called punishment and torture after Gitmo.)- On the other, his children have rights to have him be kept alive. So at this point which is the choice?