By C1 Staff
SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Jail nurses with the Woodbury County Jail are saying they can’t do their job effectively with the increase of mentally ill inmates currently housed in the jail.
With only two full time and one part time nurse currently staffed at the facility caring for 231 inmates, employees complain of long hours with no breaks and constantly dealing with suicidal inmates or those suffering from drug and alcohol abuse without proper resources, according to Siouxland Matters.
Doing research to ascertain each inmate’s specific problem was also time consuming and difficult with the lack of staff.
During a supervisors meeting, a request was made for two additional staff members. The larger staff would increase the quality of health care for the inmates, which would have more benefits for staff all around the facility.
Supervisors sympathized with the issues and promised to take steps within the next few weeks, including either drawing from a $20M reserve held for the county or using a percentage of money collected from those paying a penalty for suspended licenses.