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Maxim staffing works with most prisons in north and central CA. Hope that helps.

We arent allowed to wear ANY color Blue or any complete set of: Orange, yellow, red, black, grey, white. It limits alot. However, you can wear a printed top with any bottoms (except blue of any kind). I wear regular tops (peasant kind comes up highest and is loosefitting) over scrub pants with cargo pockets. Then I have my pockets, but love that I can be different than everyone else.

Very good response. I too do Triage at a prison and you summed up my job for me. LOL Sounds like you do a good job.

I work in Corrections (CA) and believe new grads should not jump into Corrections. Once you get here, it is hard to leave. Your skills become limited and paperwork is a focus. I do enjoy parts of my job, but wish I had done more acute care. (I had 6 years of ER) I am now not as desired an applicant because I have been out of Acute Care for a while. I am stuck. However, the good thing to think of is that you can for sure retire in 20 years. (You can do that anywhere if you are diligent about your retirement... its just that the State seems to make it easier). HTH Good luck.

We have handwritten MARs which get transcribed every week... this makes our med errors triple what they should be. I wish they were keed in by pharmacist (like on the outside) and then followed by nursing. The meds should be packed/pulled but not removed from packaging -- then double check infront of inmate. That helps me. I also think about every med and why they are getting it... that way things that dont make sense are not given. I had a nurse the other day give an Alzheimers med to a 30 yo pt because she went to the wrong cell. If she had thought about the med .... she would have second guessed herself and double checked IM and orders. I think there are a lot of med errors because people are not following the 5 rights. I know it is intimidating in front of an inmate to take your time.... they are always in a rush -- as if they have somewhere important to be!! But we have to take our time... it's our license. :)

I answered the last couple posts in the interview questions thread. Hope it was helpful. So, update.... I was tentatively offered the job yesterday. As you can see... it took A LONG TIME! But I was patient and they updated me every few weeks. I had another job, so it was just time I was losing toward my retirement. LOL They offered me a start date of 1.5 weeks to 2.5 months out - I get to choose. It depends on the date of my honeymoon... so I am going to put it off for a bit I think. Good luck to everyone else. :) Hopefully I will be at San Luis Obispo - California Mens Colony very soon!!

I had an interview and remember being asked: What would teaching be for a new BP med? What to do if inmate was banging his head against the wall? What if an inmate gave you a letter to mail on the outside? and treatment for a chest Stab Wound. Not very hard, but they wanted thorough step-by-step answers. Not sure how I did, but I felt pretty confident about it. Mostly they talked about the facility and allowed me ample time to ask my questions. The questions they asked were very standardized and they could not elaborate on the scenario. They asked me not to share the questions or my answers until all interviews were completed "as the interview is very competitive". So I waited a month .... hope that was long enough. ? I was very nervous before my interview and looked for a forum like this to help me understand the kinds of questions to even expect. It seems every location is very different, but most give a psych, safety, and medication question at the minimum. Good luck to all applying.

I got a letter to that effect from Salinas, but then got interview at SanLuis Obispo. They did not indicate the hiring freeze was for all prisons... hope not. But I have a job currently, so I can be patient. :)

So it took a month from time I answered the inquiry til they called for interview, but when they did... it was 3-4 days ahead. Good thing I had coworkers that could easily swap shifts with me. :) They said that I would hear about 3 weeks after interview because there were alot of applicant for this job. So again ... patience.

Got my interview letter today.... will let you know how it goes.

I am in a similar situation. I was ranked 2/80, scored a 95% on the "exam", got my request.... sent in the application and copies of license and certs.... have been waiting 3 weeks. It seems like forever. I was told the due date was 5/10 and the next week they would select interviewees and then the next week we would get letters. I have not gotten one. So I am still waiting. I called and left a message for the Melissa Woodley (i think that was her name) but no return phone call. My resume should have looked really good to them... but i think I am wasting my time. Getting discouraged.

When I began looking into Corrections Nursing, I must admit my naivity -- hadn't even thought of riots and hostage incidents. One of my friends told me about the "we won't negotiate for hostages" standard ... I must say I had to seriously think about it then. My fiance is nervous about that occuring, but I don't let fear change my life direction. I will be very observant and try to keep myself in a safe position along with hopefully watchful officers. If the worst happened though... I would try to stay calm and hope that my history of respecting the inmates would keep them respecting me. Never can tell....

Thanks. Wow. It has already been a couple weeks since I sent back all my stuff. I will have to be patient. I am ranked 2/80... so I think I must have a good shot. Thanks again.

I would be proud to work with any of the nurses that have responded in this forum. I believe that the "Universal Precautions" approach is honest and appropriate. Universal precautions dictates that you treat all body fluids as if they would be infected, therefore protecting yourself and your other patients. So in corrections, you would be "firm and fair" by considering all inmates/patients as a potential danger. Practically, as an ER nurse, I treat all my patients this way anyway. If a patient tells me they have Chest Pain, I present a differential diagnosis of any of these possibilities: Myocardial Infarction, Pulm Embolism, Pneumonia, but also Drug Seeker. Does this mean that any of my patients are treated differently? No. All would receive the same tests and medications until symptoms or results of testing ruled out the other potential diagnoses. So, in corrections I would guess the nurse should consider all possibilities including real potential illnesses along with manipulation, etc. Nurses do this all the time and I have faith that these nurses realize who their patients are and also realize they can have real medical problems. The nurse that can see the truly sick person through all the manipulators is the nurse that is best suited for corrections, IMHO.

Hi there. I know this post was as while ago... but was curious how it turned out. Did you interview? How was it? Did you get hired? How long from the time you got a letter about your interest til you got the interview? How are you liking the job,(if you got it)? I appreciate your answer. Thanks, jennifer