Sometimes the pay is awful and sometimes great. It all depends. In some prisons and some jails the nurses are ired by the state, county, or jail. In others, they are staffed by contract ageneices. the contracts can run  from one to three years. Some of the agenices are very low paying.

wow great to see all the different views....there really is something for everyone here..thanks for the invite

My sister in-law is in corrections and she said there are a lot of inmates who will try to see how far they can push you to get what they want.  There are also a lot of the mentally ill and mentally insane people there. I personally will not be working in a jail when I get my RN degree because those places scare the heck out of me!!!  But it would be interesting to know what the Nurses job there is. 

Jailbirds? I have a family member who spent 18 months in jail in Las Vegas waiting for a court date. Speedy trial?? Anyway, he is a cardiac, had a mental breakdown, and was locked up for 23.5 hours a day.  No he was not being punished per se. He was in protective custody because of who he would need to testify against.

He was denied his eyeglasses and therefore could not read the documents from his attorney.  I was eventually told that he could get his glasses from medical.  I called to find out the procedure and the RN I spoke to told me that he "Would NEVER" get his glasses!  I was also told that Nexium is not in the formulary, and neigher is Zocor!

He was put on Zantac which is not even the same class of drug as Nexium, and guess what the jail gave a cardiac for high cholesterol? Niacin!  Yep!  Back in the 60's Niacin was used for high cholesterol, but not in jail. 

He walked in, no shortness of breath and just  stable for a cardiac. So here is a BRIEF account of his medical experience.  It took 8 months to get a psych evaluation, and 4 additional months to receive medication. He was forced to go to court while having hallucinations ( no he was not on drugs).  Once he started on Zoloft, the  psychiatrist was discontinued, so there was no follow up whatsoever, no titration of meds, nothing.  Last January, he got food poision from the food. He was vomiting blood, had massive diarrhea, and was denied medical care for 4 days.  On the 5th day, he saw the doctor, who gave him no hydration, nothing for vomiting, and was sent back to his cell!  Three months later, the doctor was arrested for cocaine use! Maybe this is what prevented him from prescribing the standard  of care.

His condition deteriorated daily until he ended up in a wheelchair! He was unable to walk.  No doctor evaluated him. No nurse thought this to be odd that a man who walked in suddenly could not walk. About a month later, he said the doctor looked over the counter and said he had a venus thrombosis.  He asked me what that was and I explained.  He was put on Coumadin.  At no time was he INR or PTT evaluated. No diagnostic study was done to confirm the peek over the counter diagnosis. 

I called the newspaper and the ACLU.  The ACLU is well aware of the medical nightmares throughout the state of Nevada. Two federal judges visitied the jail and in both cases found the conditions to be "Barbaric".  I screamed, yelled and made a fuss and so 4 months later, a doppler ultrasound was done.  There was no clot! An X ray showed a fractured tib/fib.  This was caused by one of the many falls he experienced while being in ankle cuffs so tight that his ankles would bleed.  The wheelchair was no longer an issue.  The coumadin was eventually discontinued. 

He had 4 separate episodes of chest pain. On one occassion he had an EKG done.  The jail doctor ordered a cardiac work up including a 2D echo, stress test,, blood work, etc.  The jail staff rushed to this...... 7 months later he was transported in ankle chains , hand cuffs and waist chains, ( NO wheelchair ).  Keep in mind, no splint, no cane, no cast, no orthopedic doctor for the fracture!!! 

Once at the Universisty Medical Center, it was decided that his cardiac condition was not stable enough for a standard stress test.  He was instead given a persantine stress test, a nuclear scan was added by the interventional team at the hospital, medications were ordered.

The medications were never given to him. He was denied an extra pillow to help with the shortness of breath and he was forced to walk in ankle chains on a broken leg.

Now, in case you were curious, he was a pre-trial detainee, which in the US means innocent until proven guilty. He was tortured daily by the guards, forced to take his cardiac meds which were not even the correct medications all in one gulp. Meds were not given at intervals, and were not given by nurses.  Meds were given by med techs.

Finally, 19 long tortured months later, he got his day in court.  He was not permitted a wheelchair for court. The guard said he was looking for sympathy.  I don't know how they saw that on the X-Ray.  All charges were tossed by the judge!  He was innocent, completely, totally 100% innocent.  And this is how he was treated.

The ACLU is well aware of the mistreatment of the inmates.  The US Congress was given a report of an audit done by the office of the attorney general outlining the deplorable conditions at the jail with specific violations in nearly every area of medical care that there is. I would be happy to provide you with a copy of this report if you would like to read it.  To one nurses credit, she stopped the guards from repeated tazers on a mentally incompetent inmate who was already in hand cuffs while in his cell.  I have a video clip if you are interested which shows how the tear gas and tazer is done!  SHOCKING!

I could not understand any nurse, RN, LPN or student, going along with this dangerous, hap hazard, barbaric treatment inflicted on the inmates by guards who told the Las Vegas Sun that they do not know how to take care of criminals! I have the full articlie if you would like to see it.  I personally would not want to take doctor's orders from a cocaine addicted doctor! But that's me!  Maybe I need a psych evaluation.

Everything stated here is well documented public record.  Diabetics denied insulin pumps in spite of having one pre-arrest due to failure to obtain glucose control with intermittent injections. Diabetics not given a diabetic diet, ever, beause it does not exist in spite of the ADA guidelines for diabetics in correctional facilites. Inmates denied toilet paper! Forced to eat rotten food.  Tied to chairs! Forced to shower in hand cuffs.

To each his own, but for me, I would not risk my license, or my ethics to be part of correctional nursing AKA correctional torture. It is the biggest nightmare and disgrace that I have ever witnessed.  This IS the standard of care in Las Vegas. They beat to their own drum and have absolutely no regard whatsoever for the health of the inmates.  My heart aches for the inmates who do not have a nurse in the family!

I can not give you his name. As stated he was in Protective Custody due to WHO he had to testify about. This facility has been in the Las Vegas Sun at least 4 times since September, and at least once in the LV Review Journal. It is NOT metro. It is located on Las Vegas Blvd- North.

The situations that I spoke of above is only a small capsule of what really goes on. If you still don't know which facility it is, go to the web page for the Las Vegas Sun, and search for LOCKDOWN Hell.

Lawyers have complained. Judges have complained. The ACLU has exposed  this over and over and CRIPA is now involved. At no time during his 19 month confinement in protective custody was the required assessment of his mental `capacity EVER done.

He was denied a priest, denied a bible, denied access to his attorney and taunted and verbally abused daily by the guards who were just as hateful to the visitors. Guards were telling him that they planned to psychoanalyze him and to do all in their power to be sure he never got out of jail.  I had to drive 6.5 hours to see him. On one occassion I was denied visitation, and when I asked why, I was told" Due to his gang affiliation." I replied that he is not in a gang. The officer agreed and said he was in the gang of no gang which meant that the known gangs complained about him.  This of course was a total lie from hell............ but it is also typical for this jail. While I was being told this, he was being told, "Until you tell us who you are going to testify against, you can sit here and rot."

I sat and waited for change of shift, asked to see a supervisor and was told that his visits were discontinued because since he will not tell who he is going to testify against, it could be anyone, and so, he will remain in PC, no visitors, no mail, no phone.  BTW, he never did tell them what they tried to bully out of him.

 Being a new LPN and just beginning to work in a jail (and what I hope will be a career path possibility)--I can tell you that I ABSOLUTELY love working there.  The guards and other nursing staff are all wonderful.  My position is as a "Med Nurse"--I always have guard(s) with me as I am passing the meds.

I know this post isn't directly about being a nurse with someone who is incarcerated, but... I had a patient last night who was admitted to the hospital because she wanted to see her son before she dies. She had to be in the hospital, and in a dying state, and the physician had to call the prison where her son was incarcerated.  Her son is supposed to be able to be transported and see her. I cried when I got report on this patient.

I mean, I looked at the human level. This woman will get to see her son before she dies. I don't know what he did, and I don't care what he did. He will also get to see her. I am glad for this for both of them.

I am very glad you are enjoying your job.