wisconurse

Rebe, When I took my PN test I also changed my date and did not realize I should expect a confirmation letter. I showed up to find I was a "no-show" on my original date!!! That was a miserable day. I cannot tell you how many times I checked my date when I was getting ready to take the NCLEX-RN :) I just thought it might make you feel a bit better if you knew you were not the ony one. I know I felt better after reading your post. I do hope you were able to get it all reset in time to keep your job lined up. Best Wishes

OH! Thank you so much! This is so much more than I expected. I REALLY appreciate you taking your time to discuss your work. The more contact I have with nurses, the more excited and proud I am to be working toward becoming one. Thank you again! Very Best Wishes, Laura

Thank you so much for your response! You have already mentioned several issues I had not thought of, such as counting equipment and attending to patients in handcuffs. I also had not considered the overall threat of a large scale security breakdown. I was thinking in terms of one-on-one problems, so that is enlightening! If you do not mind continuing, I will ask some more specific questions, of course if anything is too personal or should not be shared please just say so. I really appreciate your help! I am amazed by how people in the nursing profession are willing reach out to each other. Thank you! When did you graduate from nursing school? Have you been a Correctional Nurse since you graduated, did you work in another nursing capacity, or take time off after graduation? What other types of nursing (if any) have you done? Do you work in more than one institution at the present time? How many hours a week, on average, do you work in a week? What shift(s) do you work? If you work more than one shift, how do you rotate through the different shift rotations? What do you like about working as a nurse? What type of facility is the institution? What are the types of patients that this unit cares for? In general, what are the needs of these patients? What types of problems do you address or try to prevent, as a nurse working with these patients? What other types of health care providers work with these patients and what are there roles with these patients? How much time, on average, might they spend with a patient on a shift, a day or a week? What is the staffing level of the primary shift that you work? Do you know what that might be for other shifts? How is patient care divided amongst the different health care providers? (For example does one C.N.A. provide the care to 3 patients and work 1:1 with one RN?) Have you ever had an injury as a result of your employment as a Correctional Nurse? You mentioned your concern about an overall security falter. Would you say that prevention of access to weapons, or objects that could be used as weapons is the most important preventative measure implemented in your area? You also mentioned that security is first priority, would it be fair to say that putting security before medical care adds to the overall safety of all patients and staff? Has a patient's health been adversely affected by security measures in your experience, or has a crisis clearly been prevented by following safety procedures? Are you aware of any regulatory and/or reimbursement agencies are involved in this safety risk for the patient and the nurse? Are you aware of the stance of any professional nursing organizations related to correctional nurses or correctional nurse safety? How much additional training was required to prepare you for this job? What was the nature of the additional training?

I am hoping a Correctional Nurse can help me out by answering a several interview question. I am assigned to interview a nurse for my nursing fundamentals class. The report will be shared with many students considering various nursing careers, so it would be really helpful to hear an honest assessment of the safety issues of the job. I need to focus on one safety issue, for example, weapons, infectious disease, personal threat to self after release of treated prisoner. However, as I am not sure what the largest safety concern is, I thought it would be best to discover the issue from a nurse in this position before structuring my questions. Is there anyone who may be will to participate over the next few days. I can keep it to about 15-20 questions. If you can help please just post the safety issue that concerns you most within the job and I will organize my questions to fit the issue. Thank you so much!