Staff becoming institutionalized?

Rob72, ASN, RN · Jul 14, 2011

I worked as a CO for 6 months. My Sgt. and I came to the mutual understanding that I wasn't, "enough of a sunnavabitch", to stay, so...

It is a tough call. On the one hand, inmates have no concept of personal responsibility, so the, "don't come to prison.." line is not at all out of line. Looking back, and were I going in as an RN, I would really have to treat it like a veterinary office. You give the best care you can, but don't expect much development in the patient education arena.

I would say that your problem will be that those inmates who are not manipulating intentionally are doing so because of limited self-assessemnt ability. If you are unable to see consequential events, you'll experience the same problems, and you'll be frustrated because, "the man is holdin' me down!", not recognizing that your own behavior got you there. In turn, this will breed the "institutionalzed" thinking of the COs and staff.

Good luck & be careful.

prisonnurse02 · Jul 14, 2011

I have been working in corrections for 7 years. It is very difficult not to become "institutionalized". It only takes being scammed a time or two before you get skeptical. I have found that if you treat every inmate/patient the same, being very consistent in your care while still following all of the rules, they (for the most part) learn to respect you and realize that they cannot scam you. But believe me, as soon as the next nurse comes along, they will start all over again with that one ! :uhoh3:

wazeout · Jul 20, 2011

I worked as a CO for 6 months. My Sgt. and I came to the mutual understanding that I wasn't, "enough of a sunnavabitch", to stay, so...
It is a tough call. On the one hand, inmates have no concept of personal responsibility, so the, "don't come to prison.." line is not at all out of line. Looking back, and were I going in as an RN, I would really have to treat it like a veterinary office. You give the best care you can, but don't expect much development in the patient education arena.
I would say that your problem will be that those inmates who are not manipulating intentionally are doing so because of limited self-assessemnt ability. If you are unable to see consequential events, you'll experience the same problems, and you'll be frustrated because, "the man is holdin' me down!", not recognizing that your own behavior got you there. In turn, this will breed the "institutionalzed" thinking of the COs and staff.
Good luck & be careful.

Although I can understand where you're coming from, I disagree with this statement, because we all can and have felt frustrated with the bureaucracy of organizations, which feel exactly like the "man is hold'n you down," and in many cases that is exactly what's going on, because often times, especially with government agencies, there is an "if it ain't broke don't fix" attitude, that can hinder progressive thinking. Unfortunately, most people's behavior reflect this attitude and go along with the status quo, that is until something drastic happens, which will cause the bureaucrates to finally look at and fix the problem, but that is only reactionary without the benefit of forethought. :twocents:

military spouse · Jul 20, 2011

I think IF you have the time to listen than it isn't a problem. I don't listen to too much just because our responsibilities are so huge that I wouldn't be able to finish all my treatments and sick calls and then I would probably be fired. I usually work the inpatient unit, though, so probably listen a bit more than when I work the dispensary. Also, I tend to get tired of the same sob stories everday......

If you spend too much time with an inmate and your co-workers are knocking them out and getting the work done, they may become frustrated if they feel they are doing more than you.