fiestynurse

It is different in each State and in each County, but many jails have regular inspections from the Public Health Department. Many PHDs work closely with the Jail Administration to control infectious diseases, like Tb and MRSA. I have also seen the ACLU get very aggressive in situations like this. I know some County jails that have an ACLU Omsbudman that spends all day resolving inmate concerns. The 9th Circuit just ruled that an inmate must exhaust all the internal grievance procedures prior to filing a lawsuit. This has ensured that the grievance process itself is not cumbersome and is not meaningless. Many Jail Administrators have learned that having a good grievance process is their best way to ward off lawsuits by dealing with issues before they get out of hand. Historically, the grievance system was developed to prevent riots. Your last paragraph is just ridiculous. Are you an inmate?

I have to say that Zashagalka makes some very good arguments and I agree with most of what he is saying. Thank-you - I learned a lot from your posts.

Graduated from a 4 year BSN program in 1978. My first hospital job was on a medical floor, rotating all three shifts, making $4.50/hr.

In California alone, $400 million is spent on caring for these "anchor" babies. Currently, one in five babies in California are born to illegal immigrants. Close the borders. Change the law regarding citizenship.

banditrn - I am sorry that you did not get the responses that you wanted, but "Me thinkst you doeth protest too much."

EJM - "Of course if someone doesn't like what America is all about, then one can always move." Yes, I suppose that is true. If we need health care that we can't afford in the US, we could go to another country to get it and many do. Or, we could commit a crime and go to jail. The incarcerated are the only US citizens with a constitutional right to health care through the 8th amendment. Many people with life threatening illnesses have purposely committed crimes, so they can go to jail for full health care coverage. That is fact! Is that the America you want to live in?

This bill is just another Bandaid fix - it doesn't solve the real problem and move us any closer to a better health care system. We are basically paying for universal health care and not getting it. When a Provider (Hospital, Clinic, Doctor) has to provide a certain amount of charity work for the uninsured or underprivileged - those costs get passed on to the people who are insured and do pay for their health care. We all pay for the charity care! The system could be much more efficient and save us millions of dollars. A single-payer system, such as Canada's, is the way to go. Canada's Health Care Lauded by One Who Knows by Sol Littman Ever since my wife and I chose to leave Canada and settle in Tucson, we have been amazed and angered by the distortions and misrepresentations in the American media of Canada's government-funded, one-payer medical system. Among them is the recent op-ed article in the Arizona Daily Star by Dr. Jane M. Orient. For most of my adult life, I worked as a journalist in Canada and took full advantage of Canada's health-care system. My wife, daughter and grandchildren were free to choose their own primary doctors and specialists. Service was consistently kindly, prompt and concerned. If something serious was suspected, we were tested, X-rayed and examined in a matter of days. Our physicians were highly trained and the hospital facilities modem and pleasant. Thirty years ago, I had my gall bladder removed and had to spend three or four days in hospital. When I was discharged, I was presented with the bill-a total of $5.50 for the use of the television set in my semi-private room. The Ontario Hospital Insurance Plan paid the rest. It is important for Americans to know that people in Canada tend to live a couple of years longer than their U.S. counterparts and that Canada's infant mortality rate is lower. This is attributed to the fact that everyone-young, old, working or unemployed-is covered for basic hospital and medical care in Canada without co-insurance or deductibles. This is in contrast to the United States, where there are more uninsured people (over 40 million) than Canadian inhabitants. American critics of Canada's health care are quick to cite the fact that there are lengthy waiting lists for non-emergency medical procedures. It is also true that there is considerable overcrowding in some hospitals, but this is due to the fact that emergencies are treated immediately even if it means a lineup of gurneys in the hospital corridor-a situation I have found exists in American emergency wards as well. The Canadian system does not rely on private insurance companies. The system is run by 10 provinces and two territories. They pay the bills and set the rules. Medicare, which services the American elderly, is the closest approximation to the Canadian one-payer system, but there are important differences. In the United States, the government pays the bills but private insurance companies that are more wasteful than the government run the system. In addition, some of our American health-care dollars go to make the insurance companies rich and play no role in actual health care. The waiting times for some procedures are longer in Canada than in the United States, but this problem is being actively tackled by the government in the wake of a Canada Supreme Court decision that "access to a waiting list is not access to health care." However, the decision did not abolish the one-payer system-in fact, it reinforced it by giving the Quebec government, which was the chief object of the lawsuit, 12 months to remedy the situation. As a result, Quebec is working hard to catch up with the rest of Canada. The average wait for a hip replacement has been reduced to four to five weeks, and knee replacements usually take six to seven weeks. This may still be too long, but if you happen to be one of the 40 million uninsured Americans, you might have to wait forever. Why have my wife and I chosen to spend our retirement years in Tucson? We did, in fact, worry about leaving behind our Canadian health care, but climate, the availability of year-round golf and relatively good health persuaded us to take the chance. We have found medical services in Tucson excellent, but expensive and complicated. We don't like being at the mercy of an HMO and have yet to decipher the ins and outs of the new drug plan. We continue to long for the simplicity and efficiency of Canada's single-payer system.

Really sorry to hear about your mom. Unfortunately, Eye and Ear drops get mixed-up quite frequently. It's important to have good systems in place and identify these drops really well on the bottles and in the MAR. I had a med pass nurse who obtained little stickers with a picture of an eye and a picture on an ear - she sticks them on the boxes, bottles, MARs. I thought it was weird at first, but I bet she has prevented a lot of med errors. She has gotten really creative lately - She put a picture of Freud on the drawer where the Psych meds are kept. That one made me laugh.

My HMO charges $100 for all ER visits, emergent or non-emergent.

I think that cleanliness is important in the jails, not only for the inmates, but for the staff who have to have work there. I also think that inmates should be treated humanely. There are many watch dog groups and agencies that your son can report bad jail conditions to. I gave you two - The Public Health Department and the ACLU. Your son can also write his local county and state representatives. But, my point was - your energy would be better spent attending ALANON and taking care of yourself, rather than focusing on your son's miserable time in jail. ALANON has helped thousands of parents deal with their addicted children and it will help you and your son in his recovery. I am speaking from experience here, addiction effects the whole family. It doesn't mean that you are to blame for his addiction or that you are a bad mother. With that said, spending time in a not so nice jail is "rock bottom" for many addicts. It is what keeps them sober when they get out. I would rather have my son sitting in dirty underwear for a few weeks, then dead. This dirty disgusting jail with it's rude COs may have saved his life!!

If the place is that bad - call an ACLU attorney and get a class action suit going. Your son can initiate this.

Most blister pack systems are patient specific and come directly from a licensed pharmacist - this is not dispensing. Some stock is allowed, but is usually documented accordingly. Pre-pouring and re-packaging is dangerous, whether it is coming from a blister pack or a bottle. In addition, there are new Pedigree laws being passed in many states and probably federally - this will outlaw any re-packaging.

Unfortunately, some jails are filthy, although many have developed better cleaning practices because of highly publicized MRSA outbreaks. And it's not unusual for facilities to issue a clean set of clothes once a week at the minimum. You could have called the Public Health Department and complained. That might have triggered an inspection. In addition, there is usually some type of internal grievance process in most jails. Your son could have used this to request a clean set of clothes. Finally, I have to say that by listening to your son whine about his miserable time in jail (a situation that he created) and for you to call his lawyer is rather co-dependent and only further enabling your son. He is a grown man. I hope that you are attending Alanon meetings for family members of alcoholics.

You should check your state's pharmacy laws and check with the BON regarding the pre-pouring or re-packaging of prescription medications for administration to patient/inmate's. Putting pills in a small coin envelope and labeling it - is usually considered dispensing - and in violation of the law. It also creates more medication administration errors due the extra handling and labeling of the medications. However, many jails still use system - mostly to save time. The preferred legal and safe med. administration method is described by JamieB.

These types of inmate/patients are difficult to deal with, but you should use good assessment skills and go through the motions. Have him sign a release and get copies of his old records and check for any history of a back injury. (Old records are very helpful, especially if the outside doctor has had similar issues with him) Take his vital signs each time. Assess his level of pain and discomfort. It is very important that you do not ignore him. Carefully document his behavior carefully. How does he walk into the exam room - What is his gait like? Does he hop up on the table with relative ease? Involve custody in observing his actions. If he is doing calisthenics or out on the basketball court shortly after complaining of severe back pain - that's important to have in his records. And you may have to send him for an abdominal scan, just to cover yourself. Ask him to save you a morning sputum sample, so you can test it for blood. Unfortunately, these inmate types are very litigious. So, document, document, document! You may also want to tell him the story of the boy who cried wolf.