Originally Posted by Esmeralda

What I read here was hurthful, ...

Why would it be hurtful? ONE person made a comment about the "type" of people who work within the facility, saying they were incompetent. Most spoke of feeling helpless, not the service given in this thread. Although that is ONE persons opinion, i am sure you have heard worse while working in the facility yourself, you must know this is the crap/theories that circulate inside and out? That all Doctors are really vets etc. So why be upset if you KNOW you did your job well and cared for your patients? Those whom you cared for would recognize the nurses and Doctors who are their for a pay packet only and the one's who care about their patients because we too hear it.

You must have some sort of understanding where family members and loved one's come from when discussing their feelings and thoughts regarding "the feeling of helplessness" when it comes to a loved one incarcerated and their inability to do more when they are sick.

You would have to know that while much is brought to our attention, it is the negative that gets the most press time. You hear/read all the horror stories and little else when it comes to prison, including those who were not adequately cared for when seeking medical help.

Originally Posted by Esmeralda

I'm a nurse, I've worked in a jail for about 10 months, had to quit 'cause the headgames and the stress was getting to me. I'm from Canada, And I just wanted to point something out.
I Am A Very Qualified Nurse, and no I didn't start working in a jail 'cause i was incompetent, or because I'm not fit to even take care of a dog.
Working in the medical field, is hard, very few people can/want to understand, We are not robots, we do have flaws, accidents happen, but how come no one evert looks at the good we do?? The bad always gets pointed out though ...

What I read here was hurthful, ...

Just think about it, would you do it?
There's so many phoneys, so many headgames, so many liars, so many things you see, people hurting each other, the screams, the ....
I could go on and on ..
I took care of everyone one of my patients, I nursed them all with the respect they deserved as human beings ...

Anyways, just wanted to say, yes the system has flaws ! Yes some may not be fit for that type of field, but don't please don't put everyone in the same basket, some amazing and competant people DO CARE and DO WORK inside our prisons walls..

SOrry again for the interuption

I've been in hospital a few times, as a free-world patient and not as an inmate trying to get medical care. I can tell you there are good doctors and nurses, and there are poor, uncaring and incompetent doctors and nurses that practice in all areas of the medical profession. I'm not saying that because I don't understand how difficult the job is, I'm saying it because it's true.

I'm glad you do a good job. You just need to remember that not all of your colleagues do the same.

Hey Esmeralda,

No, as a nurse I wouldn't do it. I worked in long term care for a couple of years and heard the same accusations of the "type" of RN who would work there. I was still the same nurse in a couple of different settings and had never heard such accusations before. I had my own reasons for working in long term care at the time but most likely wouldn't choose to go back to it. I'm glad that you tried correctional nursing and I'm sorry it burnt you out. Burn out and criticism is a big problem in our profession. This is an old thread and I don't think the critical poster even posts anymore.

I'd suspect that correctional nursing gets the same bad rap as long term care nursing care does. That there simply isn't a good staff to patient ratio and the staff don't have enough time or resources.

Originally Posted by Selly

That there simply isn't a good staff to patient ratio and the staff don't have enough time or resources.

This is the TRUTH in FULL in many nursing situations, unless you work in critical care where it is one on one.

My recent experience, both as a patient and a visitor, is that hospital nursing care is fully adequate at the three hospitals that I have frequented. However, community nursing suffers from being woefully under-staffed and under-resourced. Particularly "care in the community" for folk who live with mental illness.

My guy was waiting 3 days to be seen by a doc for a earache. Then another 3 days until he had the Antibiotics that the Doc prescribed for it. He said it's sort of normal because sometimes Inmates try to get out of their cells and come up with all different kind of drama and when someone REALLY needs help, they just take their time because they don't think it's serious...anyway...he says the Doctor/s are not that great...for me...being new to all this and emotionally attached...it kind of made me really worried and upset that he is lacking the medical care when he needs it because I KNOW that earaches like that are just horrible. I don't even know if he got over the earache yet, still waiting to hear back from him...

The NHS is not much different. I say that not as a criticism of the fantastic service many NHS staff provide (my mother included) but as a fact as the system is overused and underfunded. I called the local surgery recently to make an appointment to see the doctor and was told there was nothing available for 10 days. And I pay my NI contributions and haven't broken the law. Yet I am being told to wait 10 days for an appointment. Why the long wait? It's not because the GP is lazy and decided not to show up for work but because too many people are placing an unnecessary strain on a limited resource.

So whilst I understand the frustration that you feel because your penpal had to wait 3 days for an appointment, the 'blame' lies with all those inmates that are demanding to see the doctor just to be able to get out of the cells or out of sheer boredom.

Originally Posted by februarymoon

So whilst I understand the frustration that you feel because your penpal had to wait 3 days for an appointment, the 'blame' lies with all those inmates that are demanding to see the doctor just to be able to get out of the cells or out of sheer boredom.

I think that is a whole can of worms there when you dissect it piece by piece, you have inmates that seek drugs, others wanting human contact, a touch of any kind, a few words and a little attention but most are well known. The sad thing about it is they cry wolf so many times that if something is seriously wrong, maybe they will be left a little longer than they would otherwise be because of their history.

My pp is the exact opposite and apparently needs to have one of his limbs hacked off before he'll go to the doctor. This is a problem right now because yesterday he told me he was very dizzy, several times, and had to sit down, sounded kinda goofy on the phone. I TOLD him (nagged) not to wait too long if it doesn't clear up and isn't seeming like dehydration. (It's hot in Nevada!)

We'll see if he got it looked at. Hope he didn't need to but if it is serious I will be pissed at him if he waits... it's just that he doesn't trust "them" doesn't want anything from "them" and thinks a big bottle of Man-Up is the only medicine he ever needs.

*I really hope he's ok