BSNinTX

Yes! As a nurse manager, I now hand a copy to my new nurses to read through as they move through orientation. It is an excellent resource and will help you get up to speed as well as learn national best practices...which may not always be what you learn from your employer and peers. It is an easy read and packed with good info and questions to think about. As others have noted, NCCHC and ACA are great resources. The NCCHC conferences are always fantastic and have content for new and experienced nurses.

Thanks everyone.

I have heard that LPNs licensed in PA cannot give meds without an RN present. Any truth to this? Anyone know where exactly to find support or refuting information in the practice act?

I've sent you a PM. Hopefully, you can then reply. You should get a note in your email as well.

No, I was 'paroled' to Immigration more than a year ago. Shoot me a PM and I will give you the skinny.

STG provides contract employees for the Immigration detention center I work at, as well as all the other ICE detention centers. I have heard from their staff that they pay well, but that the medical insurance costs a lot. They may also staff more traditional correctional facilities, but I cannot say that for certain. ICE detention tends to be safer, more sedate than traditional correctional facilities, but some places have more criminal aliens and can be difficult.

71 responses so far. Just a few days of data collection left. Can you help me get over 100 respondants?

One more week of data collection to go. If you have not already done so, I implore every corrections nurse to take this survey. Help shape the recruitment of nurses into our specialty. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LMSF2QD

The Chief Nurse for the Federal Bureau of Prisons has been gracious enough to distribute this survey to that agency's nurses. I would love to see a lot more state prison nurses and jail nurses participate in this survey so the federal presence doens't skey the results. Please consider participating if you have not already done so. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LMSF2QD

I would like to make the results available, yes. I may be able to post preliminary information. The long range plan is to attempt to publish the results in one of the NCCHC journals or the ACA health care journal.

Thanks to everyone who has taken part in the survey. More, please!

Sixteen responses so far! Come on prison and jail nurses, pitch in to help our specialty. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LMSF2QD

Money: Friends, family, criminal activity, inmate jobs. In many cases, though, inmates write the suit themselves and can file it for little or no cost based on laws designed to protect the ability of inmates to file suits for their own protection against cruel and unusual punishment, i.e., violations of their rights or related to the condition of their confinement. As for credibility, yes and no. In some cases, correctional systems will try to settle the cases so that they do not have to spend the time and money to fight them. The inmate will get a little money, or will have some kind of injuctive relief, while the nurse is stuck with a judgement against them. The correctional system makes a problem go away but the nurse is stuck forever with this stain on their record.

One thing that is special to corrections is the concept of deliberate indifference. This is different from malpractice or negligence and is often claimed by inmates. In addition, inmates have a lot of time on their hands and sometimes use that to sue staff, including nurses. Sometimes its because they think they have a real claim, sometimes it is just to make life difficult for the administration. Another factor is that in corrections, your patients have not chosen you as their caregiver and have no other options. Thus, if there is not a provider-client relationship as in other settings. Rather, there is an adverserial relationship between nurses and inmates. Now, that may not be pronounced or even the overall vibe of the relationship, but that tension is always underlying.

Thanks for those who have responded to this survey. I would love to see many more nurses participate and help shape the future of our specialty.:specs: