licensed practical nurse

registered nurse

team administrator

licensed vocational nurse

registered nurse - operating room

Southern Health Partners

Due to the nature of the setting, everyday was a totally different experience. If you are the Medical Team Administrator, you find that it all falls on you. You are the only RN. If you get a nurse(LPN) to stay for 90 days then you have been successful as an effective leader.
 It was an insult to tell them(new applicants) during the interview the pay wage.The lead RN salary was exempt but you were on call 24/7, very often covering shifts. There is no comp time.So if you worked 62 hours in a week, you get paid for 40 with no comp time, no leave early, no 'thank you'. When asked to corporate about comp time, you will be given the run around. I do not think this is legal but it wasn't worth my time. The pause on the other end of the phone while talking to HR said it all.
Management was hands off until they think you are about to quit. My Regional Director was set to orientate and train me. She gave me a punch list of all the statistical reports that I needed to turn in weekly and monthly, a set of keys and told me to call her if I needed her.I did half a day of observation with her and she told me I was smart enough to catch on. I did not need her validation, I needed someone to show me the ropes. That evening when she left, she told me she might come back. I never saw her face to face again my entire tenure.
 The jail staff was a true delight. A few Detention Officers did present unsafe to do medical rounds with. After presenting concerns to the Sgt, I felt that the isssues were addressed. Not to say that it wasn't some subtle retaliation but who cares. I have zero tolerance for gender and race discrimination.
There are travel relief nurses that management will not let come to your site unless you are "in" their circle. Who has time for playing petty games? So what happens...you burn out the few dedicated employees and you wind up pulling 20 hour shifts. Please believe that upper management, who suddenly appears, calls you in your 15th hour to tell you that you can't work on the clock past 16 hours. As if you don't know but yet will not send you any relief.
Oh! They tell you to write up nurses when they get a grievance about a nurse directly from the jail. They=Corporate, then tell the nurse that he/she can move to another jail because it's probably a conflict of personalities. So unprofessional and dangerous behaviors on their behalf. I have never witnessed anything like it in my life.
Most of the Regional Nurses and Directors are part of the good ole boy system. The hardest part of the job is trying to do right by the population of people you serve and you are physically and mentally exhausted by long hours, high turnover, and minimal pay.
I really enjoyed the cohesiveness between the medical unit and the jail staff. As a nurse in the jail setting, you are highly regarded.

The Overall Rating is 2 stars because you always have work. Simply because no one wants to work for Southern Health Partners.

I work for Southern Health Partners, Inc. at a local county jail. While the jail staff and overall experience is quite positive and the local management for Southern Health Partners is above and beyond any I have ever worked for, Southern Health Partners involvement and support from corporate is completely hands off.

I support the MTA, Medical Team Advisor, who is essentially in charge of the medical department for the jail. She oversees all of the nursing staff and has the final word on treatment for inmates, ordering of medications and supplies and determines whether or not someone is to be sent to the hospital or ER for expanded treatment not available at the jail.

In my year at this location, the MTA and I have had to argue the value of ordering needed items, such as Tuberculin for TB testing, from a different vendor because the one SHP had us using was $100 more than another vendor, who was contracted with SHP. Office suppplies are restricted to not only a strict budget but also a small list of cheap items that wear out quickly and create productivity issues.

With regard to office supplies, I have begun using my own money to purchase certain items due to a more reliable usage pattern as well as these items lasting longer. SHP refuses to budge on their "approved list".

And that leads to me to the last issues. I have a family with 3 kids and one on the way. In order to insure my entire family through the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee plan that SHP offers, it would cost me $600+ PER PAYCHECK. Yes, $1,200+ a month to insure my family. For some perspective, as if it were needed, I only make $10 per hour with NO OVERTIME PERMITTED. Do the math.

So finally we arrive at pay. As I said, I am a medical clerk making $10 per hour. Although I have used my position to create a very streamlined and efficient work place for myself, the MTA and the nursing staff, I do not get raises due to SHP's excuse that I do not complete their online training. 

The training they are referring to is for nursing staff, is unpaid unless you do it on the clock, and is virtually impossible to account for all of it as many of the modules are simply downloadable PDF's. So, unless I stop my work in the middle of the day and choose to not schedule medical appointments for inmates or not sent important releases for medical and prescription information, I don't get a raise.

So there you are. I make barely enough to pay the bills, can not afford to insure my family and will never get a raise. The only good thing about this job is the people I work with and my boss who is an amazing person. I can not recommend SHP as anything more than an in-between job just for a paycheck. All companies are about profit, but SHP will sell you to the Devil before they lose a penny to help you.

With SHP, you are providing medical care to inmates, which in itself is very rewarding. Some facilities are awesome, whether it be because of jail staff you work with, the inmate culture, or the medical staff. Other facilities are less than ideal. Inmates are disrespectful, or jail staff is short, which hinders your ability to see patients, or they are short staffed medically, so you end up working more hours than hired for. 

Your experience will greatly depend on the management team, your ability to use prudent nursing judgement, and your confidence in your nursing skills because there is a high level of autonomy. Some nurses just cannot do this, and blame the company when in fact they aren't strong nurses. It is what it is.

I have been with SHP for 4 years, and I love what I do, but I have experienced some things that could be improved: I have seen that corporate does value their clients (which are the jails) and even those that we really have no business working in, they try to preserve the contract. That is highly frustrating, because those are the jails that have high staff turnover because it isn't a secure place to work, or jail staff try to dictate how you do your job (keep in mind, this is only SOME facilities), which means you pour in more hours in a jail that is not an ideal place to work. Another thing is that should pay more. It used to be comparable, but with the high-risk environment that is corrections, I feel they should pay more considering it's a job a lot of nurses are afraid to work in, simply because of the reputation. They offer a full benefits package, but the insurance is expensive. I am a single mom of 2 kids, and between insurance and taxes, 40% of my check is gone, which hurts a great deal. 

I will say that most facilities I have been to, I have not had any problems. I have encountered several managers, whether they be nurse managers of a site or nurse managers of a region (16 jails or more under their supervision) and majority of them have been easy to work with and communicate with. Of course you have a handful of site managers that don't seem to want to get their hands dirty, but at the end of the day, I know I did my job. I have encountered regional managers that are not as available as I'd like, but I just call another one if I need help. There are ones you know will help you, and that definitely keeps me going. 

This isn't the best company I've ever worked for, but it definitely isn't the worst. I have noticed a change in our state in terms of positivity and nurse retention over the last couple of years, which was not the case when I started, so I would assume management has something to do with that.

Managers/supervisors play favorites/ hate “Yankees” they don’t have your back with the jails. Throw you on assignments where the full time nurse is lazy and leaves all their work for you to do in 1-2 days that should have been done over the course of a month. 

The nurses curse at the inmates, give them needles when they shouldn’t have them. They don’t float the meds as per policy of the company. Horrible lazy nurses ! 

Don’t wear a tank top driving three hours to the jail in the summer bc of a nurse calling out ! Then put your scrub top on overtop the tank top when you get there! Bc you will get fired for that! 

Don’t complain to your supervisor about how a nurse speaks to an inmate telling them to get the “Truck” out of medical and that they better not put another “trucking” sick call in bc it won’t b e replied to and we will take your money for it though!!  That’s how these nurses spoke to the inmates. Ridiculous! I don’t care who you are or what you do as an inmate. You are still a patient at the end of the day! I will do my best for medical care but within my scope of practice. And I won’t take advantage of the guards like a lot of nurses did. I will use their time efficiently and schedule with them unless it’s emergency! 

An inmate was throwing up black sputum for two days straight per guards and the 8 gallon tub of vomit I saw! Detoxing! I told my supervisor the day shift nurse that if he continues to please send to ER! Only because she refused to let me send him out Right then and there! I came back into work after 24 hours for my shift he was still there ! I called EMS and sent him out he was in ICU three months and they said I saved his life! Yet my supervisor and day shift nurse said he was faking it. 

A lieutenant didn’t want me floating meds bc it took too long! I refused and followed policy! I got in trouble by my supervisor for making him mad! 

Horrible management! I hope she is gone!

This was the second job i have had in the past 15 years and it only lasted 2 months. I was not oriented properly, when asking for staffing help i was told many lies to keep me quiet for a while longer. After being the only full time registered nurse at the time and working 4-6 days in a row with no help, and then expected to report to a last minute and mandatory training class on my day off it was all I could take. I made it clear that I would be more than happy to do this training on my next work week but I wasn't given that choice. Best part is that the terrible manager was mad because she was not able to make me do what she asked, like I did for 2 months, so she terminated me for "Insubordination" in a TEXT Msg!!! Even after reporting her nonsense and horrible management to her boss, nothing was done. I was one of 4-5 nurses who had been hired and either quit or were terminated in a 2 year time period, after working for my previous employer 15 years!!!! Obviously my change in my nursing field was a true disaster and is something I will regret for a long time.

If you are thinking about working with this company stay clear of The Bertie Martin Regional Jail position in Windsor NC. Unless you want to be screwed over BIG TIME

I did not work for them long for MANY reasons. I have 6 years of experience as a nurse, 2 1/2 years of experience as a correctional nurse/manager, including experience with other contract healthcare companies. I have never seen anything like this company! It amazes me that they are even still in business. They are full of false promises that they never fulfill. The management is a joke, it's quite disorganized and their medical knowledge is mediocre. They only respond to your calls, emails, communication that is of benefit to them, but not when you need assistance with matters. There is no staffing! They pay significantly less than other correctional healthcare companies. They are full of greed. They do offer benefits to their full time employees which include horrible coverage that is over-priced. They choose who they treat well, if you buck their system and stand up to your superiors at all, even if you are 100% morally and professionally correct for doing so, they will retaliate! In correctional nursing, each jail is unique, and it's typically not the inmates that stress you out, they treat you with more respect than this company does. Referring simply to this company and not correctional nursing in general-RUN! FAR and FAST!

The MTA is controlling. Believes guards/inmates over nurses even when the incident reports by shift sergeant are proof otherwise. MTA left my write up on the desk for anyone to see, per her own statement that "anyone could have looked at it". She did not go over write up with me until 2 days later after she submitted it and I had the copy I made. Write up was vague and when I asked her to elaborate her response was that she could not tell me. I asked her how can I correct if I didn't know what I did wrong? She Does not protect confidentiality. She took inmate chart out of medical, who knows where so I could not document. HIPPA violation there! Have to get her permission to send inmate to ER or even approve for extra blanket. She is mean to inmates. She will sabatoge you to get rid of you. Keeps d/c'd meds from inmates or inmates that were released and hides to use for other inmates instead of sending back to the pharmacy. Low pay of $19.50 an hr. Numerous medication errors were ongoing last 2 months with no consequences. Not enough training and she left often during training. SHP should ask why they can not keep full time nurses at this location. Regional supervisor should do unscheduled drop ins! I emailed and called regional supervisor after my dismissal with no response.

I was employeed with SHP for almost 3 years, never written up, never received any disciplinary actions. Whenever I was available and they needed a nurse I was there. I would drive sometimes over a hour away from my home.  I was fired without being told I found out I was fired after another jail asked me to work  I couldn't login the website. I spoke to the corporate office HR supervisor asking why I was terminated only to be told i was terminated due to lies of an officer in the jail. The jail is equipped with several cameras throughout the facility that could prove or negate any wrongdoing on my behalf. Did SHP conduct an investigation? NO  they simply fired me when asked to pull cameras and videos I was told it would be done of course that never happened. I called left messages for the regional manager, and HR supervisor calls went unanswered. Emails went unanswered until I became persistent only to clear myself of any wrongdoing. I asked the HR supervisor to send me a copy of my termination letter (she claimed she mailed it) August of 2018 of course I haven't received it yet....if you want to work for a company that values their employees, a company that will be fair in all instances, SHP is not the job for you. Their only concern is keeping their contracts with the county jails.

The only good thing was most of the staff. Very hard working individuals, doing the best they can. Most had the inmates best interest in mind. A typical day is delivering medications, sick call and then another medication pass. 
Jail Administration tries to dictate to the medical staff how to provide medical care to inmates, putting your license in jeopardy. It was all about the cost, causing Medical and mental health care to be at the very least - minimal. The jail admin. would bully and throw paperwork at medical staff, swear and intimidate us. SHP did nothing to back you up. They made excuses, stating they are the customer, medical is a vendor. And if you complained, the repercussion was you were let go. I have never been treated so poorly as a trained professional. SHP’s and the jail’s expectation were just unbelievable. It was like being caught in a cross fire. 
Short staffing was always an issue. There were times you would be forced to work 23 hours straight or be turned in for abandonment. 
SHP is a prime example of why medical care in correctional facilities should be monitored more closely. Jail Administration is over stepping boundaries. Never work for this company if you value your license.

Company as a whole is good and treats employees fair. Each facility will have it's own personality and rules depending on the location of the site and supervisor/Sheriff. Not the hardest medical job and can be very personally rewarding at times, but can be stressful due to the nature of the patient population and inner politics of facilities. Your interaction and reception is directly proportional to your attitude, so be flexible. Minor issues... it's a large company and you can get lost when it's time for promotions and it is possible to get caught on the wrong side of politics as you do occasionally have to balance between what's best for the patient, what the company wants, and what the jail wants, if in doubt follow your nursing conscience. Strong nursing/patient assessment and moral character/integrity a necessity. If considering employment understand...
1.) It's a correctional facility/ Jail contract subject to termination renewal
2.) Sherriff's position is an elected office and can change
3.) It is a corporation and ran as such... you are expendable/replaceable
4.) Job/work can be rewarding but isn't for everyone

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Licensed practical nurse 262 salaries reported	$29.58 per hour
Registered nurse 35 salaries reported	$36.78 per hour
Team administrator 26 salaries reported	$35.10 per hour
Licensed vocational nurse 23 salaries reported	$28.22 per hour
Registered nurse - operating room 31 salaries reported	$30.05 per hour

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