In the corridors of Multnomah County's correctional facilities, nurses are raising their voices against what they describe as deteriorating workplace conditions and mismanagement. The Oregon Nurses Association (ONA), representing the jail nurses, has submitted a damning letter to county officials, demanding the removal of Corrections Health leadership. In a survey conducted in February, a staggering 95% of corrections nurses reported no improvement in their workplace over the past four years, while 97% expressed a vote of no confidence in their current leaders, as per KOIN.
Nurses are on the brink, with Jacob Metcalf, a pediatric corrections health nurse, detailing the grim reality behind bars. "Since we have incarcerated individuals, we have to provide medicine. We have to be there, we have to take care of their acute mental health needs. We cannot not do the job," he explained, according to KGW. The nurses are calling out for resources to be sufficiently staffed and to safely manage their duties amidst an upsurge in fentanyl use and the psychological impact of the pandemic and deaths in custody.
The ONA's letter pointedly names the director and nursing supervisor as subjects of their concerns, citing a failure to see improvements or desired outcomes from discussions with management. "We have attempted to engage with management in these meetings but have not seen improvements to our identified issues nor have we seen our desired outcomes to have been met," read a segment of the letter. "We are concerned that our vulnerable community is at risk as well as our safety," Metcalf stated, as per KGW, questioning what more needs to happen before a shift in leadership takes place.
Last year, following a series of suicides and overdoses within the jails, Sheriff Nicole Morrisey O’Donnell commissioned a review by a technical expert on the jails' health and safety practices. The expert flagged significant lapses, including the high-risk practice of isolating individuals at risk of suicide, according to OPB. And despite calls for the hiring of "an independent, knowledgeable health services administrator," the sheriff, through a spokesperson, distanced herself, labeling the outcry as a labor relations matter. Meanwhile, Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson and Public Health Director Rachael Banks had previously offered to meet the nurses but were met with refusal, the nurses insisting on a public meeting with the county commissioners for full transparency.
Efforts, however, are being made to address some of the concerns, as Vega Pederson claims the Health Department is working on increasing staffing, security, and recruitment with 14 new and 15 rehired on-call staff members. Vega Pederson stated, "We very much need ONA to follow up and come to the table to meet with us so we can understand and address their concerns," highlighting the county's commitment to resolving the issues faced by the nurses and the underlying challenges within the corrections health system, according to OPB.
