Rambo-ette

Psych evals would be nice~ as far as bad references, a former employer can give one, but, as was mentioned earlier, most don't choose to due to lawsuits. It could have been that they personnaly spoke with someone who gave you a poor reference (verbally). Sorry that you were turned down. Don't give up though. JR

I've been working in corrections for the past 10 years. If you have a relative in a correctional facility, most will not prohibit you from working there; you just can't have contact with that relative in your day-to-day duties and you have no "special priveleges" as regards that relative (e.g. visitation, etc.). Just be sure to advise the facility that you're applying at if you know or are related to anyone who is incarcerated there.Sometimes, especially in jail settings staff members may have a friend or family member who gets admitted - they just have to advise their supervisor, who will alter their assignments if necessary. You will work hard, use all of your nursing assessment skills and nursing judgement. As far as IV's, that depends on the facility that you work at. Some have full infirmaries that are like hospitals, others don't. You will probably be working with other medical staff whose abilities may compensate for the ones you're rusty at! There are also many positions available that are not clinical positions - e.g. Health Service Administration, Nurse Educator, Director of Nursing, Quality improvement, etc. Don't feel that you can't fit into the position! Correctional nursing is as good as the nurses who work it! You can make a difference. Yes, there are negative outcomes in prisons, but there are also negative outcomes in hospitals. Most of us in corrections wouldn't want to work anywhere else. Try it. J.R. Lambert Vice-President of Policy, Accreditation & Quality Armor Correctional Health Services, Inc. JR

I'm a nurse/licensed massage therapist. I took the full course in massage as a change from nursing. After i went through all that, I found out that I could do massage in my state under my nursing license! Check with the board that licenses massage therapists to findout if you can be "grandfathered in" or if they allow nurses to practice massage in your state.

In reply to Mrsgardener: There is no guarantee that that would not have happened to your friend in any medical unit. Unfortunately, HIV is spreading. the only advantage is that in corrections we at least know who's positive! There are disadvantages to every area to work. It sounds like your friend's experience was pretty hard. I would have pursued the issue of having no support from security in her situation with the warden or someone in charge!

I am administrator at a Florida jail that is (yikes!!!) privatized. We are not the enemy folks!!! Private companies are INVITED into the systems because of the state/county reluctance to pay, monitor, support and manage health care, not to mention the supposed financial advantages of not running their own medical units. Much to everyone's surprise, private companies have benefits, job security, pay raises, etc. Many staff formerly employed with the state/counties going private elect to stay with the companies that take over. Even if a contract is lost, no company has a busload of nurses to bring in if they win the contract! The down side, howver, is the loss of seniority and accompanying benefits for the employees. Even with that disadvantage, the staff usually remains there. Salaries unfortunately are lower than hospitals, etc, but there are benefits, pensions, 401k, hospitalization etc. The average rate for LPN in Fla is 10.00/hr, RN's 20.00 hr. Most have generous differential pay for off shifts. I agree,, it doesn't compete with hospitals, but I for one would never return to hospital nursing after working in corrections. I love it!