What is it like to be a nurse in a prison?

Specialties Correctional

Published

Just curious, I may have a job lined up in a very large corrections facility, and was curious to know what nursing at a prison entails? Is it dangerous? Etc..

Specializes in I have watched actors portray nurses.
Wow tdrd450 very well written. I would go onto writing books if I had your skill. While I agree in some respects with the "slippery slope" I find there are safety nets along the way which include working in teams. Don't strive to be perfect as some nurses and managers do, and think that you have to produce the highest quality of care and dewell in quilt if you don't. Don't overwork yourselves, take breaks, have pot lucks and other team building activities. I'm more concerned about a nurse that approached prison work as a lone soldier. Team work is crutial.

Our water cooler discussions focus on medical issues. We learn from each other and face unique medical and behavioral challenges together and often come up with good care planning. We help each other during busy days which means: two, three, or four codes. We don't sit around and bad mouth or talk behind backs. I wouldn't work in an evnornment which wasn't supportive. We rely heavily on our medical skills which serves to improve them not the oposite.

Correctional institutions take on unique culture within every state and within every prison. This is where you'll find "power" issues. Some prisons are harder to work than others I'm sure. I fit in where I'm at but wouldn't consider working in other states from what I've heard. Corrections is a political hot bed and often subject to state budgets which are suffering as you all know. Safety is slowly getting compermised which I feel is the biggest topic. I wouldn't want to get trapped within the walls if/when it all goes down. Like I mentioned, if I had the writing skills I would go on and elaborate more. One could write a disertation on correctional nursing.

I like the working evniornment and feel we have good leadership from balanced people at the facility I work at and feel lucky spend my career here. At the end of the day I reflect on did I take care of myself, drink enough water, have my lunch time walk and have a positive interaction with a co-worker. Good luck, and support each other.

Thank you for the compliment. However, nothing I have written here hasn't already been written/said. The slippery slope has been well researched and studied. There are few things in this world that are absolutely certain, however, one thing that comes amazingly close to 100% predictability is the intoxicating effects of power and authority. If there is any true uniqueness to this message at this time, it probably has more to do with the forums it now finds.

My passion for human rights drives my writing and not the other way around.

The topic of this thread is what is it like to be a nurse in a prison? One can not really understand or appreciate "what it is like" without understanding the context - the environment. The day to day details, logistics, routines and regimented approach to a healing profession (nursing) behind bars can only really be imagined from an outside inquirer if he/she first puts it all in the proper contextual framework. That is important to understand.

It is a custody world, not a hospital. It is security first and breathing second. It is desensitization through universalization. It is us vs. them. For someone who is currently working in corrections this dichotomous contrast of context is easy to miss, easy to look past, and easy to omit when mentoring new staff.

While it is difficult to view the same environment from two completely separate and polarized perspectives, that is exactly what one has to try to do should he/she decide to think independently on these "correctional" issues before embarking on such a career. And, that is precisely "what it is like to be a nurse in a prison."

Inmates are people. They are human beings. They have thoughts, loves, memories and pains. They cry. They bleed. They have children that suffer every day of their lives because they have to explain to somebody that mom or dad is in a correctional facility (incidently, personally, that is basically the only time/circumstance I am okay with leaving that correctional word absent quotes -- when it serves to ease, however slightly, the pain for loved ones on the outside).

They are criminals. They have been sentenced and they only deserve that sentence -- time and all the real loss that comes with it.

If we are speaking of safety nets for the staff, then yes, absolutely. They exist and they serve staff well. It is a very safe profession relative to many. If, however, we are speaking of safety nets for the humans in the orange jumpsuits, then I can only fear that true, legitimate safety nets are cursory, shallow and hollow at best. But, the good news is that that is beginning to change.

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Specializes in Oncology, Psych, Corrections.

Prison nursing...well...it is what it is. Overall the job is pretty good. I am a charge nurse in a psychiatric dorm in a men's prison. I am also a young female. That in itself makes the job difficult. A lot of these men haven't seen a woman in YEARS! They are often disrespectful. You have to deal with stares, rude comments and you have to deal with inmates who "gun" (publicly masturbate) you as you do your rounds. This job definitely makes you grow thick skin. It's difficult to maintain compassion for some of these guys. You have to learn to not let them manipulate you...they will take every chance they get! I do feel very safe here. The inmates are shackled at the feet and handcuffed and chained at the waist when they come to medical. The officers always have a custodial hold on the inmate. The worst they could do is spit on me (and yes that would be pretty bad). The ones who are known spitters have to wear spit shields.

It's a great job to work while I'm doing my BSN :)

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Wow tdrd450 very well written. I would go onto writing books if I had your skill. While I agree in some respects with the "slippery slope" I find there are safety nets along the way which include working in teams. Don't strive to be perfect as some nurses and managers do, and think that you have to produce the highest quality of care and dewell in quilt if you don't. Don't overwork yourselves, take breaks, have pot lucks and other team building activities. I'm more concerned about a nurse that approached prison work as a lone soldier. Team work is crutial.

Our water cooler discussions focus on medical issues. We learn from each other and face unique medical and behavioral challenges together and often come up with good care planning. We help each other during busy days which means: two, three, or four codes. We don't sit around and bad mouth or talk behind backs. I wouldn't work in an evnornment which wasn't supportive. We rely heavily on our medical skills which serves to improve them not the oposite.

Correctional institutions take on unique culture within every state and within every prison. This is where you'll find "power" issues. Some prisons are harder to work than others I'm sure. I fit in where I'm at but wouldn't consider working in other states from what I've heard. Corrections is a political hot bed and often subject to state budgets which are suffering as you all know. Safety is slowly getting compermised which I feel is the biggest topic. I wouldn't want to get trapped within the walls if/when it all goes down. Like I mentioned, if I had the writing skills I would go on and elaborate more. One could write a disertation on correctional nursing.

I like the working evniornment and feel we have good leadership from balanced people at the facility I work at and feel lucky spend my career here. At the end of the day I reflect on did I take care of myself, drink enough water, have my lunch time walk and have a positive interaction with a co-worker. Good luck, and support each other.

Just sayin'

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Specializes in psych, ICN.

thanks for the heads up re: tbrd.. although, tbrd carries a fantastic gift for writing. Oh the books I could write if I possessed it.

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thanks for the heads up re: tbrd.. although, tbrd carries a fantastic gift for writing. Oh the books I could write if I possessed it.

Really? I found your posts to be very well written. Perhaps you should start working on a book!:)

Hope to see you around the board, I am begining a job in a correctional facility in November....may have questions later!

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As a female and a RN working in the prisons in California I loved the experience. I thought at first I may be afraid but really was no more afraid than anywhere else in this day and time. The work for me was rewarding because you have to have the ability to "step over " whatever the inmate has done to land him there and focus on what it is you do as a nurse and do your best...thats what you are there for and thats what you are paid for. Stories are endless from experiencing the view from an office window that faces the "caged yard" for the inmates in the "hole"(which is not anything like you have seen in the movies)...its actually single cells facing a wall instead of another row of cells(that would give the guys socialization-which is avoided in the hole) Well what you see from that office window is sometimes fights where a guy may have a beef with a rival gang member or a guy taking a shower in the corner of the cage...sometimes they do their exercises to dry off! You learn quickly not to show facial expressions at anything you see(though inside you may be laughing,crying or screaming!) I walked down a long corridor with hundreds of inmates walking freely. There are guards about every 100ft. For the most part the inmates are kind and respectful to the nurses. Afterall we have their drugs! We also have the ability to remind them when they overstep their boundaries and they know we can write them up also....this will give them additional time to serve. The $ is good, the nurses you work with are great, and its very satisfying if you enjoy it!

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It's a great job to work while I'm doing my BSN :)

I'm not a nurse yet, but I have 20 years of work experience in oddball predominantly-male job environments and I will say this:

And for any single woman who is looking for a mate, that's what I'd recommend treating the prison job as -- A temp job to either get experience or get a paycheck while you are working on a degree or looking for your real job. The reason I say that, is that once you leave college, there are few ways to meet decent husband material. And one of the best places happens to be in the workplace, not necessarily meaning marry a doctor, just that hospital work helps you meet more decent people than isolated work inside a prison work will. So, I would not be spending any more time working in prisons than necessary. Double or triple that if you also live in a rural or decayed area that offers few decent single men, men, few social outlets or civic organizations, and most of the populace is is already married.

First, you don't need to be squandering your youth on a bunch of criminals, all of you 20-somethings. :) Second, you don't want to be alone with no support system, and no friends or relatives nearby, and thus almost your entire daily contact with people is with the criminals in the prison. It might be one thing to work in a prison in your home town,and live near or with your family, but it might be entirely scary to relocate to some dead-end community, live by yourself, and know that people in prison also have friends of dubious character living in the normal society.

If you have a product to sell, make sure you get it out there in front of the right buyers. I'd leave the prison work to others, and I'd get to a more pleasant environment as soon as I could.

That's just my opinion.

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Specializes in LTC, Hospice, corrections, +.
:confused:
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To the OP, please listen to those who have worked in the prison system or at least a nurse. Some of my best friends were the officers we would work out together in the morning and go skiing together it was like one big family, they watched your back. The ED I work at now has more seedy nasty people then there were in the prison. Inmates never once tryed to kick or spit on me. If they so much as made a derogatory remark to me they would lose priviledges.

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:confused:

me too~

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Thank you! Your reply was very helpful. I am just graduating with a BSN and am considering applying to corrections. Question: What is ICE?

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I am an RN and have worked as a correctional nurse for several years. I have, for the most part, liked the job. Of course there are downsides to any job, but it is challenging and rewarding. If I could give you advice, this is what I would say. Treat the inmates with respect and don't get caught up in some of the other staff's negativity. Some people are negative and seem to spread it. I have found if you are professional and treat inmates as you would any other patient on the "outside" you will get much better cooperation from them. I could go on and on. Good luch to you.

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