Clinical Protocols
This opioid antagonist is crucial to carry on-hand or in an emergency kit to reverse suspected narcotic overdoses presenting with pinpoint pupils.
What is Narcan/Naloxone?
This medication-assisted treatment (MAT) opioid agonist is commonly dispensed in daily liquid doses under direct supervision of nursing staff to prevent illicit diversion.
What is methadone?
This severe acute complication of diabetes is marked by hyperglycemia, ketones in the urine, and a fruity breath odor, requiring urgent ER transfer.
What is diabetic ketoacidosis?
This formal, multi-step administrative system allows inmates to officially report complaints about their medical care, which nursing leaders must track, investigate, and answer within strict legal timelines.
What is the medical grievance process?
When in inmate claims they cannot breathe but is speaking to you in full, coherent sentences, a nurse relies on this objective measurement rather than just visual observation.
What is pulse oximetry or oxygen saturation?
During a generalized tonic-clonic seizure, the patient should be safely guided to the floor and placed in this specific position.
What is on their left side?
This standard practice involves a nurse inspecting an inmate's mouth to ensure medications are completely swallowed and not hidden.
What is mouth checks or checking for cheeking?
This standard laboratory blood test measures average blood sugar levels over the past three months and is the primary tool for tracking an inmate's diabetes control.
What is hemoglobin A1c?
This critical administrative duty must be carefully balanced to ensure adequate clinical coverage while adhering to position control.
What is staff scheduling?
A nurse notices an inmate's sudden, uncharacteristic social withdrawal and giving away of personal canteen items, immediately triggering a protocol for this psychiatric emergency.
What is suicidal ideations and suicide watch?
This critical physical layout or acronym guides the nurse's assessment for a suspected acute stroke.
What is F.A.S.T.?
(Face, Arm, Speech, Time)
This standardized clinical tool called C.I.W.A. scale is used to determine the correct medications used during withdrawal from this specific class of drugs.
What is alcohol and benzos?
This common pulmonary disease requires nurses to ensure inmates have immediate access to their rescue inhalers.
What is asthma (or COPD)?
This describes the formal process where a nursing leader assigns specific clinical tasks to others based on their legal scope of practice.
What is delegation?
A nurse recognizes that an inmate complaining of severe, localized abdominal pain that suddenly disappears may actually be experiencing this emergency.
What is ruptured appendix?
Practicing in the correctional setting often grants a nurse with high levels of clinical independence. Because of this, there is heavy reliance on this for patient treatment plans.
What is physician treatment protocols?
This common nerve pain medication is frequently hoarded and traded in the correctional "black market" because inmates find it enhances the effects of opioids or produces a sedative high.
What is gabapentin?
To prevent fluid overload and worsening heart failure, nurses routinely track this clinical metric for inmates.
What is daily weight?
To combat high turnover rates common in correctional environments, nurse leaders must actively monitor staff for this specific type of physical and mental exhaustion caused by chronic workplace stress.
What is burnout?
When assessing an inmate with high fever, stiff neck, and altered mental status, a nurse immediately isolates the patient to prevent a facility-wide outbreak of this deadly infection.
What is meningococcal meningitis?
This vital screening process must occur shortly after an inmate is booked into the jail to identify acute or chronic medical, dental, or mental health issues.
What is Intake/Receiving Screening?
This critical process must be conducted by the nursing staff during intake to compare the inmate's medication list, drastically reducing polypharmacy errors and dangerous drug duplication.
What is medication reconciliation?
Because Hepatitis C severely damages the liver, correctional nurses must ensure these patients avoid high doses of iron and this common OTC pain reliever, both of which can cause acute liver toxocity.
What is acetaminophen (Tylenol)?
To ensure high-quality care and legal protection, leaders must conduct regular audits of this specific task to confirm staff are documenting inmate encounters accurately and in real-time.
What is chart auditing or chart reviews?
When evaluating an inmate reporting crushing chest pain, a nurse looks for this objective, involuntary physical sign to help confirm a true myocardial infarction.
What is diaphoresis?
*obtain EKG if applicable