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The One With the Corrections Officer Strike

As a former Corrections Nurse, I will not remain silent on the issue going on in New York State right now.

Corrections Officers are taken for granted. They are forced to work 8 extra hours on an almost daily basis.

*Imagine going in for a 16 hour overnight shift from 3pm to 7am and then at about 6:30am when you are "finally almost done" you are ordered to stay until 3pm the next day - for a total of a 24 hour shift that you hadn't planned on.

*Imagine being the only person assigned to a cell block for your entire shift, sometimes without a break because you are short staffed.

*Imagine knowing that the prisoners are accused but not yet convicted of murder, and you have no idea if they might have a shiv/shank in their cell/room that could be used on you at any given moment.

*Imagine knowing that when the nurses come on the unit with another officer to give out medication, you then feel responsible for their lives, too and would never forgive yourself if you fail to keep them safe.

*Imagine the cell door doesn't close completely and you turn to leave and get grabbed and choked almost to death by a prisoner. You can't call for help because you were immediately grasping for air, and the prisoner took your radio.

*Imagine the prisoners have tablets and can speak to people on the outside to sneak things into them. You know they can plot against the officers even with people on the outside who are allowed to visit... but the nurses and officers aren't even supposed to have their own cell phones while working in the jail/prison.

*Imagine knowing that at any given second, you could be ONE against THIRTY CRIMINALS, and you're expected to just handle it.

After being a mental health nurse for 11 years, I can tell you that I felt MORE SAFE working in a jail with CORRECTIONS OFFICERS always having my back, than I ever did on the mental health units of hospitals.

I got attacked by a patient in September 2024 right in plain sight -she was yelling and threatening and not one of my coworkers came out to help me or try to talk her down. I got attacked in the HOSPITAL, not in a JAIL. In the jail, I never felt unsafe because we always had a CO with us - and they were our lifeline.

If you’re reading this YOU ALL KNOW WHO YOU ARE and I appreciate you more than anything.

Governor Kathy Hochul SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF HERSELF!!

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