MichaelaM,RN

What kind of facility do/did you workin?- I work in a multi-city misdemeanant jail What is your background in nursing?- Addiction/Corrections What skills do you rely most heavily on?- Triage, Time Management, Med Pass, Dressing Changes What is the facility like? How many beds? Is it like a hospital unit or a clinic?- 800 beds (400 full right now), more like an urgent care and Chronic care clinic. Is there a doctor there every day?- ARNP yes, MD 4h/week What is your relationship with the guards like?- Excellent, they are wonderful Why did you decide to become a nurse in a correctional facility?- I am comfortable with this population. What experience do you recommend prior to working at a correctional facility?- Work in an environment with a diverse population. Be comfortable with a high volume patient load. What is the biggest challenge working in a correctional facility?- Having enough staff to get all of the work done! What is a typical day like?- Med pass, Sick call clinic, Verifying medications (calling pharmacies and asking what current meds an inmate is on), Booking triage. What is your relationship with your patients like?- Good for the most part. They can be snotty and mouthy, but they are individuals. You have to be in charge of the relationship. What you say goes, or you end the interaction. What is the biggest reward or working in a correctional facility?- The paycheck. Have you ever had contact intentional or not with patients after they are released?- no. How often do you feel like the inmates are trying to manipulate you? How do you handle this?- End the interaction. Always have a heavy dose of skeptecism. Have you ever find yourself in a dangerous situation? How did you handle it?- no, officers are always near. Why did you decide to stop working in a correctional facility?- n/a

When I have an inmate say they had a seizure, it is usually after the fact. I rarely have the CO call and tell me that an inmate is CURRENTLY having a seizure. A quick review of their history (once they are stable) can help. Do they have an ETOH or seizure history?? The safest thing is usually to get them stabilized as you would any seizure (turn them, do a neuro assessment, get them oriented) and then let them spend the night in the infirmary with qh or q 15m observation, depending on their LOC. If they're faking it, then they get 24h in observation, which is basically like isolation, no TV. If they're not faking, then you did the right thing by taking them to the clinic. Just my opinion.

skater95734- I currently work in corrections. My opinion is that working in corrections is more like clinic nursing, or possibly urgent care. We treat mostly minor health complaints, but we do see some emergencies, such as chest pain, seizures, etc. We also do a lot of chronic care and patient teaching. We do things similar to the ER in that we triage complaints, triage intakes and refer out if necessary, set up a plan of care, teach the patient about his/her condition, and encourage follow up care with a PCP. You can take many valuable lessons from corrections that may transfer into an ER career. However, the acuity of the patients rarely (yet sometimes!) warrants an emergency.

I have also just begun a career in Corrections Nursing! To make it worse, I am starting in a jail that is BRAND NEW and still getting established. Our electronic charting is not up yet, and the charts are so confusing. I seriously think that's the hardest part. Doing sick call and answering kites is becoming easier, but the paperwork aspect is still difficult. I am worried about getting a patient with an issue and I don't know what to do... It is one of my greatest fears. I'm brushing up on my wound-care skills-- and my diabetic skills! There seems to be a lot of issues with diabetics. But it feels good so far... just a little scary. The inmates are no biggie, they are all fairly nice, as long as we remember to stay SUPER professional and not divulge ANY aspect of our personal life. It's surprisingly not very difficult to do. I just say "I don't discuss my personal life at work" and it seems to work! I wish you luck in your new job... I need it too!

I guess it depends on where you want to work. I was about 1 month from graduation from my LPN-RN program, and I applied as an LPN at a hospital. I was MORE than qualified for the job and I thought "YES!" I can get in the door and then after graduation I will be an internal employee and I will have first dibs at a residency. The hospital made me an offer, I accepted, was given a start date, and told that HR would be contacting me within 48 hours to set up paperwork. I put notice in at my job, and told them to terminate my benefits. 24 hours later, I got a call from the nursing supervisor, and she said that she could not hire me because I was too close to graduating, and the unit "could not sustain" me with an RN license. Therefore I had to go grovelling back to my current job and say I was staying afterall. Luckily they wanted to keep me anyway and it was no problem. Needless to say it was a frustrating situation for me, as I could have become unemployed after she offered me a job and then rescinded it. I was nothing but open about the fact that I was about to graduate (even had it on my resume!) when she offered me the job. So I guess if the place you work wants to keep you as an LPN they can, but some places refuse.

Well, I've graduated RN school (I went the LPN to RN route) and I am still working in the clinic (it's a methadone clinic) that I have worked in as an LPN for the last 2 1/2 years. I am comfortable here, comfortable with my coworkers, and GOOD at my job if I say so myself. Just before my graduation, my supervisor approached me about becoming the supervisor at another branch of our organization. A supervisor???????? Can I do that???? Do I WANT to??? I am so confused. Yes, I am comfortable here...Yes it would be an excellent resume builder and an experience that may not present itself again for a long time (I am only 24 and this is a big step for me). And yes, I am flattered that my very capable boss feels that I too am more than capable of handling the position. However... I guess I pictured graduating and going to work in a hospital or something. I know that in a year or two I still can, and that having this experience under my belt can only help land me a position, but I guess I feel a little blindsided by this new option. The position is largely administrative, but I will still have contact with patients. I would supervise a team of 4 or so nurses, with a lot of contact with the administrative side of the organization. I have always wanted a more clinical job, and had never pictured myself in an administrative position. It is salaried, M-F, days. And this is the second time in about 2 months that I have been approached about it. One of my terms was that I get at least 2 weeks to shadow a supervisor and do their job with them before I can give an answer. I guess my questions are A) What was your first supervisor position like...was it worth it?? and B) Should I take the risk of 'sacrificing' a year of my life for this resume builder? :confused::confused::confused::confused: HELLLLP Thanks

I passed on Wednesday with 75 questions! The state had my license listed as active within 10 hours- WHAT A RELIEF. I think I figured out the reason that everyone feels like they didn't know half of what was on their test... because it's designed so that you always miss 50%... it's just whether the 50% you get right are above the passing standard. So everyone feels discouraged when they leave. But more often than not we pass. WHEW.