Douglas County Sheriff Rick Trapp ordered an immediate review of security procedures at the Douglas County Jail after an inmate, demanding his release, took a nurse hostage Thursday night.

The incident happened just before 8:45 p.m. in the maximum-security section of the 196-bed facility, as a 31-year-old nurse employed by the Douglas County Visiting Nurses Assn. was going about her routine.

“She went into the maximum pod to dispense medication to one of the inmates there,” Trapp said. “That inmate allegedly grabbed her and took her hostage.”

According to the sheriff, an officer on duty in the pod immediately sounded an alert, and fellow officers converged on the maximum-security unit, which houses up to 28 inmates.

A hostage negotiator from the Sheriff’s Office was called to the jail, but Trapp said a sergeant on duty at the time eventually was able to talk the inmate into letting the nurse go.

“The on-duty sergeant confronted the inmate, who was still holding the nurse, and had a conversation with him, attempted to convince him he should release the nurse and return to his cell,” Trapp said.

About a half-hour after the standoff began, it was over.

“At about 9:16 p.m. the inmate did release the nurse unharmed, and the inmate was, of course, immediately taken back to his cell and confined,” Trapp said.

He declined to say whether the inmate used any type of weapon to hold the woman hostage. He said that the incident took place outside the inmate’s cell and that officers did not have to use force to end the situation.

¢ 6News video: Nurse held hostage at jail

“I’m pleased with the way the officers handled the immediate situation, but I still have concerns as to why it happened in the first place,” Trapp said.

Administrators of the Douglas County Visiting Nurses Assn., which provides the jail with four full-time nurses, also were taking a closer look at their procedures Friday.

“What Sheriff Trapp and I reviewed with both our staffs is that this is the reason why we have procedures in place,” said Jan Jenkins, Visiting Nurses Assn. director. “Security is always present with a nurse when she goes in to serve the inmates, and this is one reason why that’s so important.”

Jenkins said the nurse involved had received special training to work with inmates and had been working at the jail for about two years. She also said the nurse was following the organization’s policies and procedures as she made her rounds Thursday night, distributing medication.

“You can never assure that something like this won’t happen, but because we did have steps and procedures in place, it was very quickly handled and the nurse was not injured,” Jenkins said.

She declined to release the name of the nurse involved but said the woman was fine and planned to return to work at the jail.

“We really appreciate the work they do,” Trapp said. “They do an outstanding job, and we’re just terribly sorry she had to be put in this situation.”

He declined to release the name of the inmate until the investigation was completed. A report on the incident was forwarded to the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office, and the inmate could face additional criminal charges.