RN.38SPCL

I can't believe you got 0 responses on this. Corrections is an area of Public Health. You are treating a population of people you seldom come across in a healthcare setting. this population for numerous reasons, do not seek health care and by the time you get them, they can have a health condition that is very close to if not out of control. They lack education as well. you will find yourself treating and teaching about community aquired illnesses as well as very basic instruction on anatomy and physiology, simple personal hygiene practices, how disease is spread and how to avoid it. you'll be learning about lifestyles/choices and the healthcare problems that develope. You will need to be up to date and in communication with the centers for disease control on numerous issues. On one hand it is not an attractive job to most, but incredibly interesting.

Exactly

Dear kiwilime81, I am certain I speak for all of us who vented here, I am sorry. Let me clarify, We are talking about patients / family members who are purposfully difficult, lazy and deliberately take advantage of the Nurse. When you are out of school and start work as a Nurse, you will get some of these people and then you will see what we mean. There are specific frustrations as well as a sense of humor in every industry that the general public should not be privy to. They would not understand. You would not believe the awful things I have overheard Dentists and Psychiatrists say. No one here would group someone in with anything that they didn't put themselves in first. If that makes any sense. All nurses love and care about their patients. It takes a certain type of person to do this job. They do their job inspite of the ones who take advantage. The title of this thread is " Things you'd love to "...... but can't - don't - won't. This forum is supposed to be a safe place to vent. Everyone who posted here is not skinny, or in perfect health, never had pain or never been the subject of someone elses discrimination.

i can't imagine why doctors are prescribing methadone for anyone unless they are dying. i worked hospice for 5 years and we used morphine and methadone. methadone is addictive but if you're dying it doesn't matter. i work in a jail and there are so many young healthy people that get arrested for illegal possession of narcotics, falsifying / forgeing prescriptions etc. yet they all have 1 or 2 doctors who are willing to prescribe this crap knowing full well they are abusing it and or selling it. the doctors are enableing drug addicts who don't even have a diagnosis to support the medicine. if someone is a drug addict they should be treated for the mental disorder that causes them to seek these drugs. not give them a license to continue. why are doctors so afraid of their patients? i have sent for records looking for a diagnosis to support the med for a patient and found note after note where the doctor writes, " this pleasant gentelman tested negative for substances including the one's i wrote for him and is back for a refill of his methadone. this gentelman states he wrecked his car yesterday and took more methadone than usual and that is why he is out so soon." "i suspect he is not following our contract but will go ahead and give him another 30 day supply in light of the fact that he did reinjur himself and will drug test him again prior to any more refills. i have explained this to him and he understands." every month the same note from the doctor. for over a year the doctor says "ok, but this is the last time i'm writting for you".

I Am An Rn And Work In A County Jail. Correctional Facilities Have Been Notorious In The Past As Being Considered High Risk For Tb. I Have Recently Been In Contact With The Cdc And My State Health Dept Tb Control Nurse. According To Both And Latest Research, They Are Recomemnding Health Care Facilities Discontinue Requireing Their Employees To Get A Yearly Ppd. Cdc States That Tb Cases Are Few And Only Found Now Among High Risk Populations Such As Hiv Etc. They Also Reported That The General Public Has Begun To Show Positive Reactions To The Ppd From Years Of Testing And Then Require A Yearly Chest X-ray Which Isn't Good. Where I Work, The Entire Region Has Not Seen A Case Of Tb In Quite Some Time And The Facility I Work In Is Considered Low Risk Due To That Fact. Thus, They Recomend A Verbal Screening Only For Tb Upon Incarceration And Only Do A Ppd If The Person Says They Have Been Exposed Or Show Symptoms. Also, Mexico Has A Tb Vaccine That Is Not Approved In The States. Illegals Always Have A Positive Reaction To Ppd. Many People Who Were Not Ill With Tb Were Treated Anyway Just In Case And That Is Not Good Either. Maybe Someone Else On This Board Has More Info For You. It May Vary By State.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONCERN AND HELPFUL INFORMATION. NO ONE IS PRESSURING ME TO SCREEN, I WAS JUST CURIOUS, IT IS NOT MY AREA. I JUST WENT TO AN INTERESTING SEMINAR ON THE SUBJECT AND DID NOT THINK TO ASK THIS QUESTION WHILE I WAS THERE. THE PSYCHIATRIST AND THE PSYCH NP TALKED ALOT ABOUT MALINGERING.

WOW, THANKS FOR ALL THE INPUT. I FOUND THE MMPI ON THE INTERNET. I'M AWARE THAT TAKES A PSYCHIATRIST. THAT'S NOT QUITE WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR. I JUST THOUGHT IT WOULD BE MORE SIMPLE THAN IT IS. I WAS HOPEING THERE WAS A SIMPLE SCREENING TOOL SPECIFICALLY FOR NURSES JUST LIKE THERE ARE OTHER SCREENING TOOLS SUCH AS AIMS TEC. I WOULD NEVER GO OUT OF MY SCOPE OF PRACTICE.:heartbeat

To the alcholic who insisted he can't walk, feed him self, toilet himself, who lived independently prior to getting c-3 and c-4 fused, laying there naked, stinking,with a cervical colar on, refusing to let nurses see the staples, refusing to be cared for because "I'm in so much pain" urinating high into the air, squirting all over the place, with a urinal 2 inches from the left hand and a call light 2 inches from the right hand, that he insisted I place there not five minutes prior to doing the firehose job, who snuck over his siderails and took a poop in the toilet but dummy forgot to flush,,, I did say,," You are responsible to participate in your own healthcare, I can not let you lay there 24/7 and eat Vicodins and not eat food. Now get up and sit on the side of the bed, we are going to assist you to a bedside chair where you will eat your supper without being spoon fed."

Does anyone know of a screening tool nurses can use to assess malingering vs valid presentation of mental illness? I work in a correctional facility and it is beneficial for convicted felons to fake mental illness for many reasons. Also, If you know someone is malingering, what is your response to them to get them to give it up?

Tell them it's their responsibility to come get their pills. they are adults right? tell them "no show...no pills..no excuses." I bet they'll show up after the first time they miss their drugs.

The patients' rights end where yours begins. All jobs that have risks also provide a means for protection. All psych nurses should be taught how to physically defend themselves without causing any injury to the patient. it can be done. Cops take people down all the time and don't cause any serious injury. why can't psych nurses use mace? I would sue the employer. I am sick to death of employers not being fully staffed. There are always staffing agencies to use in a pinch.

No problem, I work with men to avoid it too and I'm female.

True, the only ones that will make it through the Transition programs are the ones who simply made a grievous error and have not lived their entire lives committing crimes and living in correctional facilities.

Yeehah dragonnurse!:bowingpur I work in a county jail now. I used to work hospice and pride myself at knowing how to help someone control their pain and other symptoms. I have a mildly herniated disk at L-5 and S-1. When it flares up...man, I am dying. Before we knew what was causing my pain, my FP made me an appt with an Ortho. It took 3 months to get in. I called and begged "Please, I'm in so much pain, squeeze me in" The secretary or bulldog I should say says, " Well I can get you in on this date", It was a month later than what I already had. My FP did not want to order an MRI, she wanted the ortho to order it. They all kept telling me Just go to the ER. We'll, yes I was suffering but the ER is for emergencies. This just needed Temporary TX until my 3 month down the road orth appt. I knew what worked in the past. I said, just give me 4 days worth of Naproxen and Flexeril and I'll be good to go. No NO NO from everyone. I gobbled 3 times the NAD of over the counters, Did stretching exercises, ice packs hot packs and went to work. How could I get time off? No doctor's note, no diagnosis etc. By the time my 3 months later appt rolled around, the flare up was over. I was in significant pain for 5 months. Waited 2 months before going to FP in the first place. So I went to my ortho appt and told them exactly what I thought of them and how I had drug dealers in my jail who were being treated by the same outfit with no Dx but "chronic pain". These addicts were selling their meds as well as playing with them. they got caught. So.. I was ****ed. The Doctor felt really bad about what happened to me and ordered a stat MRI. He read it right away. Even though I was not currently haveing a flare up, he rx'd me for naproxen and flexeril with 3 rflls. If I learned anything from an inmate, it was this....stock up on drugs. I'll never get stuck waiting 3 months without any relief again. that was 2 yrs ago. I kept those pills and when I have a flare up, if I treat it right away, at the first twinge, I can nip it in the bud. It takes one or 2 days of meds, ice and strething and I'm good to go. Any doctor today can plug your name and address inot a nationwide pharmacy system and see what you've been up to. It will list every doctor, every med that doctor prescribed, and every pharmacy you've been to. there is no reason any more for nurses and doctors to wonder if the patient is legit. Imagine yourself in a courtroom and the lawyer is asking you to explain why you continued to give rx to a known drug addict who ended up overdosing and died. Tx the cause and not the symptom.

I understand alot of what you have read. But you can google just about any subject these days. Try googleing " prison transition programs" or transition from prison to society" and see what you come up with. i have not done it yet but in my state and local area there are new programs popping up all over. It's about time! I agree on inmates had no actual reform in the recent past. We are now focusing on integrating this individual back into society by offering time off their sentence if they participate. They are moved to a (halfway house) of sorts after completeing extensive training. They are provided with employment from local buisinesses who agree to hire ex-cons. It is still in the rough but hey, it's looking better! as far as the mental issues developing in a normal person who is locked down, yeah. That is supposed to be uncomfortable so they don't want to come back.