crjnursewarrior

Mom35, In most cases, correctional facilities pay more because there is an element of risk associated with the job. Don't forget that your patients are criminals. They are there because they broke the law, not because they are sick. They just happen to be sick while they are there. Therefore, you put yourself at risk everday you work. Not that you should be in fear, but you need to understand it and accept it. That is usually the reason for higher pay.

LOL...I started in corrections 4 months after I graduated nsg. school...what a rude awakening! Orca and Spongebob are right about the job requiring independence. It also requires keen assessment skills which you will develop out of necessity if you take the correctional job. In corrections, you sink or swim. I developed the skills and independence needed very quickly because I HAD to...I had NO choice. I ended up loving it. That's the thing about correctional nsg...you love it or hate it...no in between! But you'll never know until you try!!

Most of the nurses I have ever had the pleasure of working with would not "call me out" or make my life miserable...most of them understand that nursing is not always about compassion. I am sure even Flo Nightengale would tell you that she had days where she thought very judgmental thoughts! It's just a fact of nursing...you have to meet people where they are at and sometimes that's not a very good place! Occasionally you will work with some idealistic Pollyana nurses who think they can save the world, and may try to "call you out", but it has been my experience that these nurses are usually brand new or just not in reality!

Diminished dexterity from a yeast infection...hate it when that happpens. Hilarious! Your reply might be: Patient education given on where NOT to have your fingers.

I agree this would be an excellent research topic for the correctional setting. As mrincc stated, you could approach it from an assessment angle focusing on what type of assessment is required to differentiate real pain with drug seeking activity, emphasizing the importance of sharp assessment skills in the correctional setting.

65 residents...65 nurses...65 CNAs...enough said!!

I agree with Orca...appropriate professional boundaries and distance are important for the correctional nurse. I, too, have seen many instances of nurses and officers crossing the line. A correctional nurse has to be "firm, fair, and consistent" at all times. Inmates can be manipulative, as we know, and don' do for one inmate anything you don't want to do for the entire inmate population. These are basic credos for the correctional nurse to live by...but I ask you how a nurse becomes involved with an inmate?? I, too, feel like some of these things are soo unbelieveable. We had a nurse that got fired for being involved with an inmate serving life sentence for murder...hello???? Hard to comprehend...they're crafty, I'll say that much for them. Also, like Orca, I have seen officers caught up in these messes, some I would NEVER have imagined and had the utmost respect for before the situation occurred. Correctional nurses and officers need to remember it is a CRIME (in most states a felony) to have sexual relations with a person in custody. That person does not have the legal ability to consent to a sexual relationship while in custody. These nurses and officers are taught this during training and yet it still happens. CRAZY!

Hey, McMike... It's been a while since I had read this thread or posted...so I just came across your post regarding the toad strangler....I had NEVER heard that one until I moved to WV. A friend of mine here says that! We always said gullywasher in OH...some other ones that I tought were funny were the "picked up by the cops"...I'm thinking, "what else would say?" And personally I say Q-Pon for coupon and of course, you use those at the "gro-shree store"!!!!!

Typical 3 pm to 11:30 pm shift: 3 pm: Report to work, get report from off-going nurses. 3:30 or 4:00 pm: One of you (usually 2 eve.shift LPNs at our facility) starts Nurse Sick Call. 4:30 pm: Accuchecks/Insulin administration. 5:00 pm: Chow (dinner) for inmates. We usually try to eat around this time before the evening rush starts. 5:30 or 6:00 pm: finish dinner--mind you they are calling you to booking area at all different times of the evening to screen in new inmates, or assess new one with an injury before they accept him/her for incarceration.Also must repond to any Signal 95 (medical emergency), and Tower officers call you 17 or 18 times a night...."Inmate So and So has a tummy-ache" or "Inmate So and So says he has a rash on his leg..." Your response: "Tell Inmate So and SO that it is not a medical emergency he is not coming up the hall to medical and he can fill out a Nurse Sick Call form like everyone else!!" 7:00 to 8:00 pm: Charting--finishing paperwork on Nurse Sick Call, your screen-ins, or any other minor incidents...charting accucheck stuff if you have not done so already. 8:00 pm: Time for Med Pass--We have 2 pods, one of us goes to A-Side, then when they finish, the other goes to B-Side. 10:30 pm: Med Pass complete....you are mentally and probably physically EXHAUSTED!! 11:00 pm: Your relief shows up....you give report. 11:30 pm: Barring any unforseen disasters....you go home!!!!:monkeydance:

1. No special training. 2. No self-defense class. 3. If taken hostage,I would fight them tooth and nail... 4. Never had to do CPR, like other poster, lots of c/o CP, minor trauma, lots of non-responsive people...usually seizures or faking it!

Hey, guys! I have family near "Warsh-ington Court House"!! And I have had several friends that used to go to the "li-bary"!! :chuckle

There is no chief dietician in the facility and most of the kitchen staff are contract employees. I don't think they have any formal dietary training. The diet requisition form is printed by the contracted medical company...so really they are the ones in the wrong, you are right...they are setting themselves up for legal trouble. But, what can you expect? This is the same company who has a detox protocol order for Mag Sulfate 1 mg in "each buttock"...now, I don't know about you, but the at the nursing school I went to, "buttock" was not one of the IM injection sites we were taught! That place is a lawsauit waiting to happen!! That is one reason I am so happy I no longer work there!!! I would try to tell them about things of this nature and they would just get all offended and act like it was no big deal. Anyway, as for adequate diabetic education...we try to educate as much as possible. You have to understand the setting. Most of the inmates have limited education and understanding, so it must be simplified for them to understand which is possible to do, but the other problem is their apathy toward their disease. Most of them do not want to hear about controlling their disease and then there are those who simply don't care about or worry about anything else except getting out of jail and getting their next drug/alcohol fix. So, it's a real drag when trying to educate them...but alas, as nurses, we still try.:chuckle

Right...I understand that, but the ADA puts out guidelines that the dietary dept. follows and it is listed as ADA diet on the special diet requisition form that we had to fill out, so I always just refer to it as that.

I am currently in my 7th week of Anatomy & Physiology I and Microbiology. After that is A & P II. I can't remember if there is a Micro II or not...hmmm. Anyway....just wading through!:smackingf