Correctional vs. Inpatient Nursing on Med School App

[whynotmed]

I've never posted to SDN before so if I've done something incorrectly or posted in the wrong place or whatnot, please let me know.

I'm an RN who is applying to med school in relatively near future. Not super near but.. decently near. I currently have two mutually exclusive opportunities, neither of which are guaranteed jobs. One will let me get my foot in the door to a position as a correctional nurse, the other, a floor nurse. The opportunity for correctional nursing has slightly more of my interest but is far less likely to get me a job there and the inpatient opportunity is more likely to result in a position at that hospital but doesn't interest me quite as much as correctional nursing. These two factors and avout a million others that I've weighed balance out for me in terms of which I should take.

So I'm split exactly down the middle on whether I should pursue the correctional nursing opportunity or the inpatient opportunity. And that's where my question comes in.. Which will look better on my application to medical school in the future? That's ultimately going to be my deciding factor on which opportunity to take because I've done the pros/cons for both and for all intents and purposes, it is even. I know it's not a good reason to do things but there are no other factors for me to weigh at this point, so that's the final one and I don't know the answer to that question so I'd appreciate some input from.. anyone, really. Thank you.

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[gyngyn]

I've never posted to SDN before so if I've done something incorrectly or posted in the wrong place or whatnot, please let me know.

I'm an RN who is applying to med school in relatively near future. Not super near but.. decently near. I currently have two mutually exclusive opportunities, neither of which are guaranteed jobs. One will let me get my foot in the door to a position as a correctional nurse, the other, a floor nurse. The opportunity for correctional nursing has slightly more of my interest but is far less likely to get me a job there and the inpatient opportunity is more likely to result in a position at that hospital but doesn't interest me quite as much as correctional nursing. These two factors and avout a million others that I've weighed balance out for me in terms of which I should take.

So I'm split exactly down the middle on whether I should pursue the correctional nursing opportunity or the inpatient opportunity. And that's where my question comes in.. Which will look better on my application to medical school in the future? That's ultimately going to be my deciding factor on which opportunity to take because I've done the pros/cons for both and for all intents and purposes, it is even. I know it's not a good reason to do things but there are no other factors for me to weigh at this point, so that's the final one and I don't know the answer to that question so I'd appreciate some input from.. anyone, really. Thank you.

There is no way to know what others will think.
Do what you prefer. At least one person will be content.

 

[LizzyM]

I think that working within a correctional facility gives you a rather unusual experience that is seldom seen on an application (nurses aren't that common at least in my experience but I would expect that among nursing experiences, floor nursing is not unusual).

Sometimes having something unusual makes an applicant more interesting and adds diversity of experience to the class.

 

[whynotmed]

I think that working within a correctional facility gives you a rather unusual experience that is seldom seen on an application (nurses aren't that common at least in my experience but I would expect that among nursing experiences, floor nursing is not unusual).

Sometimes having something unusual makes an applicant more interesting and adds diversity of experience to the class.

Thank you for your insight. Would it still be considered clinical work experience to work in a correctional facility? As opposed to non-clinical. I imagine doing something like being a DOC officer would be non-clinical but, even though I'd be working with inmates rather than patients, they would still probably be considered patients when interacting with me as the nurse, wouldn't they?

 

[YoungDrummer]

Yes, it is definetely clinical. Inmates do get injured/sick, and that is when you will be seeing them as patients.

I agree with LizzyM: most nurses have hospital experience, and your experience coming from a correctional facility would be interesting. Not only is it clinical experience, but you have the chance to help those that are less fortunate.

 

[LizzyM]

I consider people who are activey seeking and receiving care for an injury or illness to be patients. A nurse caring for a patient is providing clinical care. It doesn't matter whether that care is being rovided in a correctional facility or a circus tent.