RN daily routine in corrections

[Evolving_Nurse, ADN]

I'd like to know more about the correctional nurses daily routine.  Is triage criteria laid out & easily accessible?  How do you go about passing meds?  Are nurse visits scheduled every day or on a certain day? Walk me through one of those visits. Do you do blood glucose checks on all of your diabetic inmates or how does that work? In a typical week, how many emergent situations happen that require your attention?  Are there time limits for passing meds or can I take as much time as I need?  Anything that describes, in depth, your day to day routine, I'd love to hear more about.

--------------

I'm a new RN & currently work home health. Earlier this year I worked on a med surg unit, in a level II trauma center, for 3 months.  I'm intrigued with corrections nursing because I like psych nursing, I'd still be using my nursing skills, it's less customer service oriented, & I wouldn't have the doctor, xray, dialysis, OR, pharm, respiratory, ect., constantly blowing up my phone.  It seems like corrections nursing is more cut & dry & straight forward, but I just have some reservations. (By Cut & dry, I don't mean it's easier, I just mean that there are known boundaries/rules & a consistent routine that's followed).

-------------

I've experienced many different scenarios working med surg. My last shift I had a respiratory rapid responses while my other patient was hypoglycemic (& symptomatic). I've had septic patients, wound vacs, alcohol & drug dt's, psych transfers, picc's that needed cathflo, every respiratory condition under the sun, and various other random things.  The things that slowed me down on the unit were toileting patients, answering call lights, customer service requests, & filling out paperwork. 

[TAKOO01, BSN]

4 hours ago, Evolving_Nurse said:

 Is triage criteria laid out & easily accessible?  How do you go about passing meds?  Are nurse visits scheduled every day or on a certain day? Walk me through one of those visits. Do you do blood glucose checks on all of your diabetic inmates or how does that work? In a typical week, how many emergent situations happen that require your attention?  Are there time limits for passing meds or can I take as much time as I need?

Hi,

As to your questions:

Yes, there was a protocol book and it was online

Meds were passed on a huge cart that I had to take to each unit. I had to keep narcotics and needles on my person, doing methadone, insulin, hormone injections and all other medications.

The inmates did their own blood glucose checks while I watched

Number of emergent situations vary. On hot days with no air conditioning or maybe days when someone didn't pay his gambling debts, there were several emergencies.

Yes there are time limits. My facility had a two hour window. This was flexible because sometimes there were lockdowns and things did not go as planned. 

4 hours ago, Evolving_Nurse said:

toileting patients, answering call lights,

I didn't work in a facility with a full hospital set up, so I did none of this. But maybe if you are in a facility that has a full hospital, you might have to. Not sure about this one.

 

4 hours ago, Evolving_Nurse said:

customer service requests, & filling out paperwork. 

There is a weird type of customer service in prison. It's not getting soda for the family or listening to a patient drone on about the remedy that Google told him was better than what the doctor ordered. You definitely want to keep it consistent and respectful while projecting authority to try to avoid the annoyance of being named in lawsuits (or possibly being attacked by some disgruntled inmate). I luckily dodged that issue.

Somewhat related, there is a good bit of paperwork and it needs to be right. 

 

 

 If it intrigues you, go for it. A lot of people like the specialty.

 

 

 

 

[bluescrubs, ADN, ASN, RN]

I love corrections and you are right about it being cut and dry. You don't have to worry about things like HCAP scores, answering call lights, dealing with family, etc. I feel like sometimes I'm more of a nurse in corrections than in the hospital. In the hospital I feel like the maid sometimes, I don't mind helping out but its not my duty to help a patient search their room to find their phone charger or fix the tv remote. Corrections I only have to deal with medical problems. Plus if the patients are rude I can walk away or let the officer handle it (unless its a true medical emergency in which that case they probably won't be rude to me anyways)

[Orca, ADN, ASN, RN]

One thing that I like about correctional nursing is that you don't have to put up with the verbal abuse that you wind up taking in hospitals, because patients are "paying customers". If an inmate gets mouthy with me, I just tell the escorting officer that the visit is over, and the inmate leaves without whatever he came for. Word gets around on the yard pretty quickly that you aren't to be trifled with.

Inmates are generally more courteous than hospital patients, in my experience. I also don't have to deal with families much, other than an occasional phone call or written correspondence, which I handle when I have time. The same rules apply. If they get nasty with me or won't shut up long enough for me to answer, I tell them that I am ending the call and I hang up.