indywitch24

my first nursing job was in a Women's Prison, moved to max security mens and then to large county jail so I have seen much of what you will come across. first there is BIG difference between working is a jail and working in a prison. I most prefered working at men's prison. In a jail you have inmates who are pre-trial and those who have short sentences or parole violations. This is usually a fast turnaround (average stay was a month), inmates are younger (as in stupid, immature, disregard for consequences), also see inmates with acute mental health and physical issues because they are often not getting treatment on outside. about 25-35% have severe mental health issues. there are physical altercations in all settings- in the jail it was anywhere from 5-10/wk but majority were 'minor' fist fights, broken hands, occasional jaw. there were fewer assaults that required medical attention in prison but then they were much more severe- like punctured lungs and stabbing. At women's it was usually DRAMA not trauma. I was night charge so I saw mostly emergent issues and LOTS of psych issues. Big three physical issues were diabetic s/s, seizures (real and fake) and chest pain. I could not imagine how many ekg's I would do on 20 yr olds with no health issues. Which brings to what I consider two biggest concerns for new nurse - learning to recognize that most are drug seeking and or have mental health issues and will manipulate you for a bandaid if you let them. NO favorites, NO 'heres two APAP don't tell anyone, and NO sharing of personal info at all. be the 'mean' nurse- crush the meds, don't give extra anything, charge them for everything. You are also going to be dealing with a lot of psych issues, if you didn't like those clinical you probably wont like corrections. the other issue is determining if you can treat these patients when their language and behavior is often very offensive and when you know what their crimes are. all that said I like working corrections. it is always interesting and there is just enough real emergencies to keep if from getting routine.