Former Oklahoma County Jail Nurse Says Poor Conditions Led To Her Exit

A nurse who wants to remain anonymous, says after working at the Oklahoma County Detention Center she thinks the Department of Justice needs to take control.

“The med aids and stuff were not allowed to go into the pods without a guard. Sometimes they have a guard working three floors. I worked 3 p.m. to 11 p.mp and it was 8 o’clock one night before I even started my med pass,” she said.

She told News 9 some inmates have diabetes and need their medication at a certain time and low staffing made that close to impossible. A complaint, she says she alerted Turn Key, the jail's health care provider, about multiple times.

“If we weren’t finished by midnight giving medications, then we’re done. That means the other inmates that have not received their medication didn’t get them.”

The nurse said she ended up quitting after getting bed bugs on the job.

“I probably spent almost $100 trying to clean my bed and carpet. I put plastic around it and then I put black duct tape around it to suffocate what I didn’t kill with alcohol,” she said.

News 9 went to the jail trust with these complaints. They declined to interview but sent a letter from Turn Key dated April 8.

The letter saying in part "we appreciate your willingness and sincere efforts over the past week to address the detention staffing shortages."

It then goes on to say more needs to be done to meet their needs but they "do not foresee the need to exercise the termination clause set within our contract."

The jail trust said they have added more staff and adjusted shifts but would not go into detail.