crystalwomn

You are absolutely right. If there are standing orders it might be appropriate. Some jails/prisons use standing orders. The National Commission on Correctional Health Care frowns on standing orders except in an emergency. If the employer is a goo...

You had lots of very good answers and good advice. Please keep us posted on your progress.

Sounds like they have a pretty good program. Check out the NCCHC website and get a copy of the jail standards or prison standards. This will give you some idea about what types of P&P's should be in place. Make sure that if you are not comfort...

Don't give up. It can take a couple of years before you get your biz up and running. You have to keep plugging away, and not get discouraged. You are only limited by what your fear tells you is impossible. Join AALNC national, see if your county ...

While we have had new grads who have done well, they usually have had some type of urgent care/ER or other hospital experience. As the others answering this thread have stated, as a correctional nurse you must be able to function independently, have...

My rush fees depend on how fast they want it. If they want it yesterday and I have to drop everything, depending on what they need --the fee may double or triple.

I wrote my own business plan. Before you take out a huge loan or spend huge amounts of money, take a deep breath. Call the IRS and get you tax ID number. Decide what you want to call yourself. Get a UPS or Fed ex mailbox--they will sign for packa...

My work is all testimony. I charge an hourly fee. I make it simple, I charge the same for chart review/report and so on. I do not charge office expenses and most of the time I forget to charge for calls--I always forget to mark down the time. I r...

Patient's with a GI bleed often run fairly stable vital signs then suddenly crash. The best way to determine if they are actually bleeding aside from hemocculting emesis and doing orthostatic vital signs. If they are bleeding they will have a drop ...

I am very pro NCCHC. But negligence is negligence. I work triage and we often see patients post MVA. Some have been cleared by trauma centers and in a number of cases those "cleared" patients have had life threatening injuries. Just the other nig...

There are a number of publications. National Institute of Health has an office of alternative medicine and has done some very interesting studies. Also, there is a book "Reinventing Medicine" by Dr. Larry Dossey which gives examples of studies. Sl...

First you can thank the powers that be that you are out of the facility. You can go to the union or file a complaint with HR and perhaps see an attorney about wrongful temination. Then you should go to the Office of Civil Rights, Department of Cons...

I also recommend you not let your manager know you have your CLNC. I am aware of a number on legal nurse consultants who fired from their hospital positions because of their status as LNC's. In one case it appeared the nurse had been "blackballed" ...

Yes SirI. The most important part of being an expert is the ability to remain unbiased. If you allow the attorney to interpert the case for you or fail to look at the strengths and weaknesses of both sides, your practice will suffer in the end. I ...

All of us in corrections need to read this article and take heed. I have cases much worse on my desk currently. A four million dollar settlement for deliberate indifference sends a clear statement that the court means to punish those responsible. C...

Jail intake nurses frequently deal with patients who have been involved in accidents or altercations. The RN is the first line of defense in intake. Those nurses who work a regular position in intake must possess excellent assessment skills. ER cle...

Great answer. I will not begin a case without the retainer in hand. I bent my rule just once and was burned. Attorneys understand retainers and we are all business people. Retainer fees should be clearly stated, as well as rush fees, travel fees ...

My practice is mostly testimony as I have a rare speciality. The first thing I tell clients is that I am not a "hired gun" and they will get an honest opinion whether they like it or not. I have had to give several clients an unpopular opinion. No...

We all have those moments. It takes an average of five years to get up and running. So what now. Today is a new day and you go back out. Keep marketing, keep networking and you will suceed. I got my CLNC in 2002 and my business just started to he...

Great information. I am very involved with NCCHC. They also have a professional certification which is a Certified Correctional Health Care Professional. Information about this certification can be found on their website. Their standards are focu...

If positive PPD and negative CXR we recommend treatment. They are counseled before starting RX on the importance of compliance. This is due to unfinished course of meds and the incidence of drug resistant TB. The health department prefers not to st...

I would be cautious. A few questions you might want to ask are do they have any P&P's at all. If so, what resources were used to develop them. Is there a Medical Director who is an MD and is there an MD available 24/7 either on site or on call...

Inmates have a right to refuse any and all treatment. It is the same as in the community. Refusal needs to be docurmented and the patient needs to be informed of possible consequences. The patient should then be referred to the provider, depending...

To those of you who posted about cabbage leaves. I'd love to hear more. I am working on an article on holistic modalities of treatment in corrections. I just posted a new thread. This is the type of thing I am very interested in. A suggestion fo...

If you are looking for slow paced and less stress correctional nursing is not for you. Corrections is an emerging field and is a high area of liability. I agree with other posters--to be successful in corrections you must have excellent assessment ...