SinMiedo

I have recently learned the hard way to make sure scheduling policies are absolutely crystal clear before hiring on. My current job was described as "3 8 hour evenings and 2 8 hour nights a week", which sounded great, although a bit vague. Turns out, they neglected to inform me that the 2 night shifts would be Saturday and Sunday. Every. Stinking. Week. Nor did they let me know that I would never have 2 consecutive days off (I'm off Mondays and Fridays.) There are no concrete staffing/scheduling policies here, so nothing says they can't schedule like that, I suppose. I very politely advised Mgmt that I would finish out this schedule, as it was already posted, but was not informed that it was an every weekend position and thus did not sign on to work every weekend. After this schedule is finished, if they require someone who can work that (gawd-awful, miserable, physically exhausting, trainwreck of a) schedule and are unable to change it, I will happily go back to travelling without a backward glance. (Sorry for the vent... This just happened to be a subject that hit a nerve!)

I work in prison, so we're a bit limited in what's allowed to come inside, but we got a couple days of lunches and a t-shirt. Also, one of the inmates made a really awesome Happy Nurses Week card that we hung up in the clinic. It was a really nice gesture :)

I find that I have to let the hems out of most "Tall" scrub pants, but the Smitten ones I mentioned upthread are the perfect length. (35" inseam here as well. :))

Those are my exact measurements, and I now have a new way to describe myself, lol! As far as scrubs go, I have had good luck with NRG by Barco in either XST or ST. The XSs are a little snug around the booty, so I have lately been buying smalls and altering the waist a bit. (Super easy, even without a sewing machine!) Also, I really like Smitten, specifically their "Hottie" pants despite their goofy name. They're made of a really neat fabric that hangs just right and are super comfy and flattering. The tops are slightly fitted and don't have the boxy thing going on that some brands do.

My dad-- a recently retired DOC Lt-- told me when I started working corrections, "If an inmate has something coming to him, give it. Otherwise be polite, be alert, and stay in your lane." I feel like it was a pretty comprehensive guide to working in corrections in one tidy statement--in addition, of course, to "Put in your 8 and hit the gate; Don't take that mess home with you." Sadly, some of the other gems of advice he likes to dispense are a bit off colour for this board, lol.

20-something opioid detox patient to me (after I had loaded her up with all the PRNs in an effort to make her slightly more comfortable) during a follow up check: Her: "Nurse...?" Me: "Yes ma'am, whatcha need?" Her: "Nurse. I just really like your gum." (I know, I'm bad for chewing gum at work, but I get horrific dry mouth that's no fun for my patients (or myself!))

We do V/S q shift automatically any time someone is in TCU. In an admission, the provider will sometimes specify that he/she wants them done q 6/8 or at intervals after giving meds. Our admission sheet has areas for all sorts of superfluous orders (e.g. T/P, fall risk assmts q DAY, et al.) which we rarely use, thank God!

Basically, our 23 hour obs is nurse-initiated rather than requiring an MD order. The paperwork is different, but equally as voluminous (as is the paperwork for everything we do :/). That's really the only difference.

I second all the PPs in saying that you are most NOT over-reacting. In fact, I'll see the "tell HR" responses and raise you a "File a police report!" The grabbing your hips thing.... Ugh. That's (as someone has previously said) sexual assault, which is a crime. And if this piece of trash feels comfortable enough to do it to you in an environment where he could easily be caught, I shudder to think of what he might be capable of in more private environs.

I could have sworn you worked with me until you got to the part about having a union steward. My facility is nearly identical to your situation, and I'm at my wits end as well. If you'd like, PM me which company your facility is affiliated with; I'm curious if it's the same parent company as I work for.

I apologize if I'm wrong, but I don't believe I ever recommended stepping outside my scope of practice. I merely said that if the situation warranted, I would do what I had to to ensure a good outcome, e.g. send the pt to the ER. That's basically the only thing we're equipped to do in a serious-type situation anyway, and I fully acknowledge having a low "send 'em out" threshold compared to some at my facility. Obviously I'm not advocating initiating serious interventions on my own.

Ditto!!! My motto is "Better to be in trouble for doing too much than for not doing enough." I feel like a genuine, good faith correct intervention through potentially unorthodox channels that results in a positive outcome is preferable to a "by the book" one that ends badly.

Personally? I'd send their happy butts out. (But I'm rather salty like that.) Generally I call the on-call MD several times, then the non-OC MD. If I get no response, I'm sending the pt. to the ER. If it's a legitimate urgent/emergent issue and there's no provider to give orders, the only thing within my scope that I can do at that point is send the person to someone who can. That's really the only reasonable course of action at that point. And paying a nice ER bill tends to make the inability to contact an on-call provider show up loud and clear on management's radar, especially if it's a chronic sort of issue.

In a previous facility where the majority of our population spoke Spanish, many inmates would pool their collective English vocabulary words in order to submit a SC slip. One of the best I got was: " Miss Nurse.... I need to see you because I have the mushrooms on my feets." We were puzzled for a minute until we realized the translation error, then it was rather funny. Turns out the Spanish word for athletes foot and mushroom is close/the same, so the gentleman assumed the English meaning was too. More recently, I had this one: "I need to see the nerse becuz I was bite by a brown crouppen spiter." (Brown and Crouppen is a law firm that advertises constantly on TV in the area.)

As a fellow bedside refugee, can I suggest looking into corrections nursing? While it can get fast paced at times, I find that I have plenty of time to be deliberate with my care. As someone who is also on the spectrum, the focus on objectivity and very defined patient-nurse boundaries are extremely welcome! It's a great area to experience many different kinds of patients, and with a hx of working in the ER, you would be ahead of the game. :)

Personally, I love medics! I helped an old boyfriend study during his medic school, and was amazed at just how much they had to know. We're still friends, and I frequently text him asking about some ECG rhythm or weirdo cardiac med; he does the same to me when he has questions about chronic care or psych issues (my areas of interest.) I don't work in bedside nursing, so I don't think I can speak to that part of the OP, but I've noticed that any aggro from nursing or EMS in situations I've seen it have been due to one/both inflating their own sense of importance and believe that they know far more than they really do. Most of the best nurses AND medics I know believe (correctly, I think) that the more you learn, the more you realize you still don't know. :)

Not super relevant, but I felt the need to clarify re. police: My S.O. is a police officer, and his badge has Ofc. First Initial Lastname. His full name is obviously known if he has to go to court, but his badge, signature on tickets, etc all read this way. I work in corrections and sign my documentation S. Miedo LPN (obviously not my real name.) It's probably not necessary; other than a slightly less common spelling of my first name, my real name is so common I joke that I'm Google-proof, lol. But I feel like it's professional and acceptable in most situations to go by Nurse Fist Initial Lastname if you so choose. :)

Dang. That's kind of a tough one. Most likely I would write an informative and discuss it with my DON/Administrator before taking it to custody, but that's because the medical/custody relationship here is rather dysfunctional. At my previous facility, I would have written an informative and talked to the Captain and let custody handle it from there. Basically, my point is if you feel like it was a serious enough statement that you feel like you need to tell someone, do it in a matter-of-fact "During rounds, Inmate Blah stated "blahblahblah"..." kind of manner; you'll have it off your chest, and what happens from there will be up to custody, etc. Good luck! :)

Bag Balm forever!! It's the only thing that helps my hands in the winter time. Before I started using it, my hands were so red and irritated that patients and co-workers constantly asked what was wrong with them, so it definitely makes a huge difference. :)

This is my kinda thread! One of the reasons I love corrections nursing is that it affords the endless opportunity to "invent" new ways of getting a $2 dollar job done on a 10 cent budget. My favorite is the jail icepack for assorted facial injuries/boo boos. (The nice ones are contraband, donchaknow!) Get a Ziploc baggie of ice , squeeze the air out, and squish it into the toe end of one of those blue surgical shoe covers. Twist ice-y bundle and pull the other end of the shoe cover over it a la one of those Popples toys (I'm probably dating myself here). Voila! Ice pack. I've got more, but I'm drawing a blank at the moment.

Great article!! My Dad just retired from corrections after 20-someodd years, but I never considered corrections as a specialty until I took a travel contract to a BoP contracted prison. My 13 weeks assignment became 18-ish months because I was hooked! It's a stressful specialty at times, but also one of the most rewarding I've ever been in. It's hard to reconcile the alleged crimes with the patient in front of you sometimes, but to me, that's part of the challenge. Not everyone can do corrections, just as I would be a terrible fit in L&D or Peds, but it's an awesome area to be in if you enjoy a little dash of everything. :)

Wow, that seems a bit overboard. I've worked in facilities where C&F was ordered on psych/controlled meds if the inmate is suspected or confirmed to be hoarding or diverting their meds, but it seems rather unnecessary to require it for everyone. Especially for meds that are super undesirable on the "Cellblock Pharmacy" front. I predict a fair number of greivances heading your management's way. :/

OP, I think you responded reasonably and probably not much differently than I would have in that situation. One of the "rules" of corrections nursing is "NO touching (without a darn good clinically indicated reason)!," at least it has been in my experience. Dressing a wound with medication? Absolutely. Rubbing God-knows-what onto an IM's shoulder for reasons known only to him? All the nopes. If you get a chance to respond to the complaint, I would simply write that you were approached by an IM with this request, which you denied for reasons stated, e.g. unknown substance, not medically necessary, inappropriateness of request, etc; list alternatives offered to IM, and the fact that you consulted custody to approve what sounds to me like a satisfactory resolution. IMs write people up all the time, often out of frustration that they haven't gotten their way. This sounds like one of those cases, so try not to worry too much until you have a reason to. :)

I was Wellness Director at a mid-sized ALF for right at a year. Between the 24/7 on call schedule, the regional manager who claimed if "(I) wasn't here at least 50 hours a week, (I) wasn't doing something right" despite only paying me for 40 hours/week (and that wasn't much!), and being encouraged to keep residents who had long since declined past the point we could care for them, I hit the door as soon as I could. Nursing Home Lite is absolutely correct.

Sounds like a good idea to me. My facility requires an MD signature to issue a new bottom bunk pass, unless there is a documented seizure d/o, over age 65, or missing a limb. Nurses can sometimes give temporary BB passes in the event of a limb injury after normal hours, but for the most part casted limbs, etc stay in the Infirmary until healed. I feel like we've cut down on a good deal of requests for BBs for this reason, and we nurses can avoid the argument by simply stating, "Nope, only the MD can give those." :)