Jail Nursing

I thought that I'd share a little bit about jail nursing. I have received some questions about this particular area of nursing, and thought it'd be interesting and informative to share. I work at a small county jail, and the guards are wonderful there! Some larger jails have way more inmates than guards, so the nurses sometimes have a little harder time. I'll start from when I first get to work. In the jail, it is impossible, and un-safe to push around a medication cart. We have the medications ready to pass out the day before, and as soon as I get to work it's time for the morning medication pass. I go to the male tower first and open a small door on the side of the wall to hand medications through to the inmates. It is just large enough to fit a couple of hands through, so they are not able to grab or injure you. After handing out male medications, I hand out medications to the females in the same way. I then gather the sick call forms and determine which inmates need to be seen that day for sick call. I let the guards know which inmates will be seen that day. A guard comes in and stays right beside me anytime I am working with any inmate. One inmate comes in at a time for sick call, and their vitals are taken, I address why they're at sick call, and treatment is prescribed based on Physician orders. Typical sick calls are for sore throats, colds, ear aches, tooth aches, skin rashes, high blood pressure and other common ailments. Pretty much the things that you'd go see your doctor for. However, you definitely get those inmates that just want sleeping medication so they can pass their sentences "quicker", or trying to get narcotics or other medications that we are not allowed to give in most cases for people in jail. I then document my sick calls, send in the daily reports to the company and pack the medications for the next day. While at work, I handle emergency sick calls, help inmates who are in medical distress and send them to the emergency room, schedule needed outside appointments such as dental visits, order supplies and assist with inmates who are being transferred to to other correctional institutions or who are being released back into the community. I screen each new inmate upon arrival for any medical problems and conditions, current medications prescribed and risk factors. These risk factors include mental state, suicidal ideation and tendencies, risk to others, etc. I have observed that many people in jail are mentally ill. Due to various reasons such as lack of education, assistance, or health insurance, these people go untreated for depression, anxiety, bi-polar disorder, schizophrenia, and the list goes on. I've noticed that a lot of crimes that these people commit could be avoided if they were treated for their conditions by a healthcare professional. Many of these people self-medicate with street drugs or alcohol thinking that they can somehow treat their depression and anxiety. As a result, many people are arrested for DWI, DUI, drunk and disorderly in public or other wild behavior resulting from their drug use. Many inmates come in and have to be detoxed with medications to prevent serious and sometimes severe and fatal withdrawal symptoms from these drugs and alcohol. I have learned a ton in the past year that I have been a jail nurse, and enjoy educating these people on their options and reasons to become clean and crime free! It's especially sad to see minors arrested, and I always try to mentor them as a nurse to change their lives while they still have the chance to positively affect the rest of their lives. So overall, I love my job as a jail nurse. I'm considering attaining my certification in correctional health care and look forward to the chance to continue to positively affect lives and even if I just help one person see that they can have so much more in life by becoming a productive member of society, I'll be satisfied in knowing that I helped someone turn their life around. If you have any more questions, or if there's something that I missed, just let me know and I'll be sure to reply, or post another blog on jail nursing! As always, I hope you are having a wonderful day!

Iva