Something doesn't feel right

[RealityChek]

I've been a mature nurse (female) in corrections for a few years now and would like the feedback of the seasoned veterans of this forum. I've been a nurse for over 20 yrs. Please bear with me as I give you the scenerio.

I work in an area that is fairly isolated (at times) after count time and on the weekends. Naturally I have a radio, but the person who picks up the body alarm leaves after 8 hrs. (Right away I think I should be the one who gets the body alarm, but she has been at the facility for a number of years...it's a political issue when it really shouldn't be.)

I have an inmate worker who helps in my area. He's a "good" worker and has caused me no problems. He stays pretty busy with the day-to-day work while he's in my area, so there is no time for the deep cleaning that my work area needs.

He usually leaves about the same time that other employees in my area leave. There are a couple of other inmate workers (who are friends of my worker) that work on another floor but that are not assigned to my area. They have, on their own time and without getting paid and with me asking them if they had cleared this with their supervisors, come to my work area and buffed/waxed my floor, cleaned my windows, fan, etc. These two workers have been at the institution a long time and are good at what they do and dependable, but I have an uncomfortable feeling that, despite all their efforts and seemingly good intent, feels like a scenerio straight out of "Games Criminals Play." I don't smoke, don't do drugs, and have never given anything to any inmate. I have written my share of incident reports, so I believe I have a reputation for standing my ground.

I have never played power games like some of the staff do and I always treat them like human beings and always say "thank you" for a job well done. I am a Christian. I have been told, BY INMATES, even these 2, that some inmates have misinterpreted my kindness for weakness..........and then they get to see the stern, no-nonsense side of me when they didn't see it coming. These workers are aware of the inmates (via inmate.com :chuckle) I've written up and have remarked that they "had it coming."

So that being said, the work I needed done is nearly complete and there is no excuse for these 2 workers to "hang out" in my area. These inmates have not been troublemakers and I don't want them to be trouble for me either. I feel like I need to talk to somebody at my institution, but I don't know who. At this point they've done nothing really wrong.....except I feel I need to let someone in authority know in case they might be out of bounds. When they've come, it has been very infrequent and always during open move or free movement time. They leave on the activity move. I am pleasant, but continue with my work while they are there.....this is not a hang out place....and I have a lot of work I need to get done at the end of a day of seeing patients.

There is nothing these guys could hold over my head, but that gut feeling won't go away. Please give me your feedback!

[Truegem]

First of all, I'm shocked that they can just come clean an area because they want to. Second, I'm shocked that they are not accompanied by some kind of a guard.

Sounds like the way they run things at your facility is a little lax in security. However, it's still YOUR job and YOUR safety, so I would talk to a supervisor ASAP and tell them the situation and that you do not want to be alone in the area with these guys. Tell them your fears for what could potentially happen as well as what has happened. I don't care if they have minor offenses, they are inmates and I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them.

Where I work, we are not allowed ever to sit and chat or joke with an inmate.

[RN Randy]

Wow, I agree with a couple of the other posts; sounds like a possible trouble area.

You need to consider why IM's would be out of pocket in the first place. Your situation sounds like you have a few IM's that have found a nice quiet place to dig around for continuation of business; contraband storage, or whatever. One buffs your floor while the other handles biz or does the digging as he appears to "help". Pretty simple.

Don't let an IM commissary or hard contraband stash be found in the janitor closet due to complacency. Report immediately, get help to shake it down and simply keep to policy henceforth. Keep it simple, keep 'em moving, keep it safe.

To the other posters in the thread, I read a lot of "I'm shocked", or "Lax security" and "Where's the guard?".

In the Federal system, we are correctional workers first and nurses second.

We attend the correctional officer training program at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Academy, to include self defense and firearms qualification. We are required to recertify yearly, and have annual refresher training.

Everyone inside the fence is a correctional officer.

If they're too short on housing CO's, you can be pulled to work a housing unit or even ride perimeter patrol.

In my particular unit, we do our own counts, shakedowns, etc. Oh, and the nursing stuff... LOL. We train and use IM workers. They are either orderlies or care providers and do what a CNA would normally do. Feed, water, turn, clean/bathe, and maintain the area. When count times are called, you gotta collect them up, count them, count the inpatients, etc. They are all *your* responsibility. One gets out of pocket and it's your butt.

We all walk the halls and sidewalks together, nurses, secretaries and 1800 IM's.

You'll stand mainline and monitor chow, you'll work the employee entrance metal detector/x-ray during shift change, etc.

If I see IM's passing stamps or bulging a uniform, I had better stop them and pat them down, coz if something goes down, the IM will point at me and say "he let me in" or "he didn't say anything" and it will be my hide in the LT's office [or bleeding on the floor].

It can be quite crowded at times, but the average IM keeps to the wall and keeps moving. They don't want to buddy up with staff in public. [but in private, RealityChek... you need to think about why they're there and do what you know needs done, and please be sure to tell us what you or the CO's find.]

Our motto is Be Firm, Fair, and Consistent. Follow that and there will never be a problem.

No IM's allowed means exactly that. They KNOW that. Let a single one in, and your credibility has just been raped, your respect level has just hit the crapper, and you are an official target for them all.

rb

[NurseLite]

State and County are soooo different ... even at the max level. At county, we have no radios, no body alarms AND open pods. One officer, 80 inmates and the only thing that separates the nurse from the inmates is a med cart full of drugs ... lol

On my nightshift, we have 2 "trustees" that are free to roam the facility (they wax floors). So we are allowed to be alone in any room with them at anytime. So if that isn't freaky I don't know what is.

I say, if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck ... IT MUST BE A DUCK! Talk to your watch commander. Let him/her know your feeling. If anything, it let's the inmates and the officers know you are on your toes.

[kito4149]

Most of the time I work, I'm alone also. There is ALWAYS an officer around the working imates, ALWAYS. No matter how comfortable I feel around an i/m, there is an officer in sight AT ALL TIMES. Go to your super, cause our nursing "gut" feelings are usually on point.

[2003rn, ASN, RN]

I work in a female correctional facility, there is never an inmate in our unit without an officer there. Our officers watch our cleaners in every exam room, etc. In my opinion, I wouldn't want the inmates there without an officer.