For those of you running Direct Supervison jails.....
Where do you hold Triage for the inmates? We have nurses that go to the dorms for Med Call (3x-day), When they are in the unit they triage any medical issues that are pending. Does your nurse do this in a private room, in the day room or do you send the inmates to medical for the triage? Or do you have some other solution?
Melinda
We do a combination of both. For the most part triage/sick call is held in our medical section. At times the nurse will see inmates in the housing unit in a multi-purpose room. Our mental health nurse will also do this from time to time. The multi-purpose room provides the privacy needed for that type of interaction.
Nick Gallam Jail Administrator Aiken County Sheriff's Office Detention Division (803) 643-1935
Good afternoon Melinda:
Like many others, we really do a combination of the items you mentioned. We have a philosophy that as much medical services as possible should be taken "out" into the facility to decrease the number of escorts requested tot he Medical area. As such, our Operations have assisted by providing a private area (to protect the HIPAA and potential sensitive medical issues) for medical to have these screenings. If a patient requires any type of disrobing or more comprehensive care like advanced dressing applications, then those exams occur in the medical clinic. But for the routine assessment of things such as cold symptoms, bumps, bruises, complaints, we address those in the medical room of each housing area. In our older building which doesn't have a medical office inside the individual housing unit...we have a room in the building that is utilized for the inmates which keeps them in the building but not necessarily in their housing unit.
To answer what I'm reading as your "concern", as long as you provide privacy for the inmate patient, these triages can certainly occur in the housing unit. Hope this was helpful. Please don't hesitate to contact me if I can clarify anything or assist.
Tracy Krein, Medical Administrator
Greenville County Detention Center, Greenville SC
Thank you for your input. Likewise, we have been conducting as many of the medical services as possible within the housing units. We are curerently pursuing our NCCHC accreditation and the board would like a more private area. We have a multi-purpose room available. My follow up question would be do you send the non-medical inmates to their rooms while Medical is in the Multi-purpose room or do you allow the inmates to remain out? We are currently over crowded and trying to afford as much freetime as possible to squelch issues.