Nurses file whistleblowing suit against jail company

Six Indianapolis-area nurses filed a whistleblowing and racial discrimination lawsuit today against Corrections Corporation of America, which operates Marion County Jail #2 in Indianapolis.

[Tim]

Could be a union ploy

[get real]

Was there any harm to the patients? If so, it would have been mentioned. Why should taxpayers pay our hard earned money for each inmate to have their own bottle of medication?

[Millard S]

obviously..no intelligent posts as of yet.

[nursefan]

THis is not about harm done to prisoners.

This is about the position the employer put these nurses in:

1. Giving a patient another patient's meds, even if a supervisor says to, is a violation of laws and rules nurses must follow or they could lose their licensin or at least be in trouble with the nursing board.

2. If certain inmates are not given meds they could become more violent and a danger to the nurses who work there.

3. A problem many nurses working in jails and prisons complain about is they are hired to be a nurse, but end up having to be essentially a guard or correctional officer- escorting priosoners without adequate protection and putting the nurses at risk.

4. And no one, but especially not an employee nurse, needs to put up with conditions involving raw sewage, no matter what kind of facility or people are there.

[Mikey]

It's all about the money! Sue, Sue!

[GrannyOf3]

get real wrote:

Was there any harm to the patients? If so, it would have been mentioned. Why should taxpayers pay our hard earned money for each inmate to have their own bottle of medication?

R U for real? You really want the wrong meds given to people in jail? Nurse didnt go to school to have to walk thru shit- at work!

[Joe]

Racila discrimination? Quick - somebody call in Jesse Jackson!!

[Jonathan]

nursefan wrote:

THis is not about harm done to prisoners.
This is about the position the employer put these nurses in:
1. Giving a patient another patient's meds, even if a supervisor says to, is a violation of laws and rules nurses must follow or they could lose their licensin or at least be in trouble with the nursing board.
2. If certain inmates are not given meds they could become more violent and a danger to the nurses who work there.
3. A problem many nurses working in jails and prisons complain about is they are hired to be a nurse, but end up having to be essentially a guard or correctional officer- escorting priosoners without adequate protection and putting the nurses at risk.
4. And no one, but especially not an employee nurse, needs to put up with conditions involving raw sewage, no matter what kind of facility or people are there.

Raw sewage is part of the job if the toilets backed up. Mgmt cannot be held responsible if the toilets back up. They gave them garbage bags to put on their feet so they were concerned for the health, it is the fault of the plumber who couldnt fix the problem in the beginning. geez.

[plainjane]

As a nurse, we cannot do things that are ethically wrong. It is refreshing to read a post from someone who actually knows what they are talking about.

nursefan wrote:

THis is not about harm done to prisoners.
This is about the position the employer put these nurses in:
1. Giving a patient another patient's meds, even if a supervisor says to, is a violation of laws and rules nurses must follow or they could lose their licensin or at least be in trouble with the nursing board.
2. If certain inmates are not given meds they could become more violent and a danger to the nurses who work there.
3. A problem many nurses working in jails and prisons complain about is they are hired to be a nurse, but end up having to be essentially a guard or correctional officer- escorting priosoners without adequate protection and putting the nurses at risk.
4. And no one, but especially not an employee nurse, needs to put up with conditions involving raw sewage, no matter what kind of facility or people are there.

[Willie]

Indy Rick wrote:

I dont want to slam the entire nursing profession, but the truth is that most nurses in a correctional environment are from an outsourced company. These companies take the worst of the profession, simply because nobody else wants them. Most have been fired from previous employers and their pay is below what they would make in a hospital.

I concur. Who wants to work in a jail? Must be their last option to use their nursing quilifications.

[Shawnie J]

Indy Rick wrote:

I dont want to slam the entire nursing profession, but the truth is that most nurses in a correctional environment are from an outsourced company. These companies take the worst of the profession, simply because nobody else wants them. Most have been fired from previous employers and their pay is below what they would make in a hospital.

Where did you get that information from?

[Rich]

I'm sure the conditions in the jail aren't the best. The only thing that doesn't make sense in this is if you're unhappy in your work environment...especially nursing. Get another job...the want adds are full of nursing jobs.

This just stinks of more abuse of the system to try and get a pay day. I agree with the Union ploy post.

[trosmok]

The blame lays squarely with the Goldsmith/Daniels privatization schemes. It has never demonstrated one penny of tax savings, and the very first thing lost when you entrust private businesses like CCA, and the New Castle Facility mgmt. or the Toll Road consortium is CONTROL and OVERSIGHT! Believe me, this is going to cost more than public stewardship in the long run, and the lawsuits are just going to keep on coming as long as there are suckers like your little bouy mitch that buy into these hucksters business with our tax dollars.

[RN from Illinois]

nursefan wrote:

THis is not about harm done to prisoners.
This is about the position the employer put these nurses in:
1. Giving a patient another patient's meds, even if a supervisor says to, is a violation of laws and rules nurses must follow or they could lose their licensin or at least be in trouble with the nursing board.
2. If certain inmates are not given meds they could become more violent and a danger to the nurses who work there.
3. A problem many nurses working in jails and prisons complain about is they are hired to be a nurse, but end up having to be essentially a guard or correctional officer- escorting priosoners without adequate protection and putting the nurses at risk.
4. And no one, but especially not an employee nurse, needs to put up with conditions involving raw sewage, no matter what kind of facility or people are there.

Amen sister!!!
It all comes down to the 5 rights of medication administration. Even if the patients are in jail, they deserve to be treated humanely.

But is is funny how when a person is put in jail they suddenly become compliant with all of their medications or complain of some untreated condition.

[FTK]

Ever since MCJ did away with its in-house medical unit and contracted it out years ago (Before Sheriff Anderson was elected), the medical care has been abysmal. When the bottom line is the company profit and not the inmate's health, what do you expect?

Those of you who feel they are all criminals and don't deserve care, ask yourself what if it was your son, daughter, or brother? And there are a few innocent people who get locked up. Besides, you can pay now (for proper health care) or pay later (for a law suite when somebody dies). It's going to come from the tax payer.

[Thinker]

Jonathan wrote:

<quoted text>
Raw sewage is part of the job if the toilets backed up. Mgmt cannot be held responsible if the toilets back up. They gave them garbage bags to put on their feet so they were concerned for the health, it is the fault of the plumber who couldnt fix the problem in the beginning. geez.

You are really stupid. If you want to wrap a bag around your feet and walk through your brains, Feel free. But don't expect someone else to be as empty headed as you are.

[ILoveIt]

I love that the same people who harp about America's moral superiority want American jails to function like Abu Ghraib.

[Jonathan]

Thinker wrote:

<quoted text>
You are really stupid. If you want to wrap a bag around your feet and walk through your brains, Feel free. But don't expect someone else to be as empty headed as you are.

It is my feelings about the situation. I think they were not in danger if they walk carefully and not splash up any SEWAGE on their legs or arms so that the prisoners dont have to accidentally get any on them when they are being treated. WRAPPING GARBAGE BAGS AROUND THEIR FEET AND SHOES IS A SOLUTION UNTIL THE PLUMBING IS FIXED. NOTHING THEY CAN DO ABOUT IT, IT HAPPENS.

[al sharpton]

Joe wrote:

Racila discrimination? Quick - somebody call in Jesse Jackson!!

quick, get al sharpton. he will bring in the troops. why can't this just be about work environment, and leave race out of it. What if they would have been all white, and have a black supervisor. it would never have been mentioned. i can get you al's phone number.

[BRO MAN]

trosmok wrote:

The blame lays squarely with the Goldsmith/Daniels privatization schemes. It has never demonstrated one penny of tax savings, and the very first thing lost when you entrust private businesses like CCA, and the New Castle Facility mgmt. or the Toll Road consortium is CONTROL and OVERSIGHT! Believe me, this is going to cost more than public stewardship in the long run, and the lawsuits are just going to keep on coming as long as there are suckers like your little bouy mitch that buy into these hucksters business with our tax dollars.

Brainless alert!!