Pot Smoking and Nursing

[MrsNurseCA]

Im angry.

I work for a small clinic in Northern CA. There are three RN's on staff at all time. Recently our Office Manager decided to start drug testing of all staff including Doctors. Well, one of the Nurses I work with came back positive for marijuana use. My thought was "Well she should not be doing it anyways" I was actually glad to see her get in trouble.

After discusing it with the Doctors they came up with a new unwritten policy. They will overlook marijuana. Basiclly, you can smoke all the pot you want but just on the weekends not during "on call" days. I questioned one of the Doctors about it and his response was to "chill"

Does this seem wrong to anybody else? Do Nurses really smoke pot on there days off?

[thisnurse]

i find it interesting that so many of you think that its terrible for a nurse to smoke pot as tho we are so "above" this behavior because we are nurses and yet....we are not "above" the general population when it comes to salaries.

we are not "above" the general population when it comes to respect.

there has been some argument about being impaired the day after using marijuana...how would that "impairment" compare with the impairment caused by lack of sleep?

do you think it compares with two twelve hour shifts in a row?

thats ok tho...we all do that...and we all know we are not performing to the best of our ability...because we CANT.

however, that is a part of our job...comes with the territory.

and im not at all saying that i condone any kind of drug induced impairment, including alcohol. youd better believe that i would have no problem turning someone in who smelled of weed or booze...caring for ANYONE..not just a member of my family.

im just confused. we all work impaired but nobody seems to care when its sleep deprivation or illness. why are airline pilots and truck drivers for example, given maximum amount of hours they can work but nurses AND doctors are not? but some of you are concerned with the nurse who smokes a joint on her weekend off.

drinking and or drugs while working are not the issues. we can ALL agree thats wrong...i think the issue that started this thread was that someones coworker tested positive for weed (how do you know that anyway....isnt that supposed to be confidential?) and the docs turned their heads...

i dont think the hospital or my fellow coworkers have any right at all to tell me what i can/cant do off hours. i dont think its anyones business.

im a nurse, not a saint. i have a JOB not some high calling that puts me above others.

if my JOB mandates that i behave in a certain way in my free time then i expect to be paid for that.

i am not oncall 24/7

[mother/babyRN, RN]

For goodness sakes, in some states SEX in any other position than missionary, is illegal. Sex of the oral variety is definitely a no no in many statutes...Holy cow! There MUST be something left to regulate! God help you if you're gay...(I am thinking of the moral character clause)....Perhaps you might not want to ante up to either being divorced or a single parent...Both smack of questionable morals....Obviously if someone is impaired due to some activity they are involved with, that is not allowable, but whether or not anyone UNDERTANDS to desire of actions of getting high, is NOT the issue. The issue, as I see it, is invasion of privacy during off time hours...No mention was made that the chastized nurse was in any way impaired other than to have to submit to a bogus drug test....Had she taken cough medicine prior to her shift and THAT showed up in a random screen, what on earth would have been done....My life is my business. My work life is their business. Period.....IMHO:)

[HLopez]

You have every right to be angry at this type of behavior outside of the work place . Although, it is ones time off. I would be saddened to see probing of my personal days off...no one would want us treating them at that rate. I belive if the person is not functioning to their capacity and you have proof test them.

[micro, RN]

but this should fall to any situation.......

do not work if you cannot perform your duties to your utmost ability......and this ability better be pretty dang high(not being facetious......read your hospital/etc policy and your nurse practice acts).........

but this doesn't just fall to MJ, it falls to ETOH, and it falls to just plain getting enough sleep, and any medications that you might be on Rx and otherwise, and to putting work first, regardless what else is going on in your life.........

[MollyJ]

In my business, it is not uncommon to see people change the subject to deflect the topic matter.

Yes, job impairment can happen for a variety of reasons. To say, "Gee we can't attack any of 'em until we can solve all of them," is just short-sighted.

Frankly, I'm not impressed by the knowledge that nurses use marijuana. And yes, nurses, I formerly thought that nurses were above that kind of behavior. In the 80's, I learned that we weren't even though we certainly are equiped with the knowledge that should cause us to be!

The bottom line is that nobody is higly interested in your idea of recreation, what position (or species) you prefer for sex etc UNLESS it comes to work.

Unfortunately, it's not that farfetched that what you do comes to work. Stoned, hungover, HIV+, sleep deprived: these are all things that can profoundly affect what you do at work.

We all have an obligation to our patients to exercise as much control over these variables as we can.

Anyone who ever watched a M*A*S*H episode knows that performing critical work burned out and tired is not news. For all of us, nurses and supervisors, the choice isn't, "Should I work with fresh, non-sleep deprived nurses or tired nurses?". The choice is "a tired nurse vs no nurse." BUT other risk behaviors, like heavy drinking or marijuana use is a choice we make. It's not a matter of doing the best we can with unoptimal choices. It's us--creating an unoptimal situation.

People who party need to understand that, as always, their partying impacts more than them. And yes, folks, I acknowledge that everytime I drink a glass of wine, have a beer. It changes what you do, no doubt.

Good discussion.

[thisnurse]

"Gee we can't attack any of 'em until we can solve all of them,"

i never meant to insinuate that molly.

all i was saying is that there are a lot of things that affect our performance. i just dont think that the nurse who smokes a joint on his/her day off is that big a deal, at least no more a deal than the nurse who has no sleep, or the nurse who comes in after binging.

we cant always work at our peak. its contrary to our job, but yes we do owe our patients our best.

common sense tells you that if its sunday night and you work monday morning you dont get drunk or high. you know your function will be impaired to some degree.

saturday night is another story

[Bradley]

Hello, I personally can tell you pot does effect you. I smoked f/20 yrs. It effects your concentration, coordination , and mood.I would not recommend it for anyone in health care or anywhere else.I really had no idea how it truley affected me until I quit yrs ago. The mood swings and cravings are tough to get over. Its amazing how clear things become when your off of it for so long.

I can have a drink on the weekend no problem,but with pot you have to have it ,or think you do. It really does take control,so please be careful if you use.If I had to do it over again I would have never touched it. I was a daily user and you have to have more and more to get the high, not to mention the expence. Thanks all and god bless.

[semstr]

Reply to post 28 Susannasue:

Please, please don't use the word "nurse-Nazi" in this context!

Read your historybooks and have a look about what "they" (Nazis and some nurses) really did.

Sorry I am very tired, had a very emotional day and after all these years going to Mauthausen with my students, still wears me out. And when I read something like that post ............ sorry, wrong day, wrong time, wrong me!

Take care and never let that happen again!!Renee

[wrightgd]

Two quick comments:

1) Basically this is a polarized topic... I don't think there is any middle ground. There are those of us who see this as being cut and dry... We can't understand the rationale, no matter how hard it is argued, that pot is ok. For us, it's wrong simply because it is logically wrong. On the other end of the spectrum, are the pot proponents. They will always argue that it's no one's business what they do on their time. Perhaps they feel that they have an inate ability to control the effects of the drug. It's almost like the drunk who insists on driving, because "they aren't as think as you drunk they are" hiccup!! hiccup!!

2) To all the comments about practice acts... I wonder how many recreational users even knew what their states NP act said when they go their license???

Good day all,

George

[mattsmom81]

I agree it is not the employer's right to police what you do on your off time...that does not in any way effect WORK. A pre-employment drug test that is + means you're breaking the law using an illegal and mind altering substance, and my kid can't get a job FLIPPING BURGERS if he tests + on his drug screen. How can we justify healthcare workers testing + in CA and it being allowed?

I grew up in the 70's where just about everyone I knew tried pot. Even my parents tried it...once. I honestly didn't know anyone who smoked pot 'just one joint on a weekend.' It didn't work that way then and I suspect it really doesn't now either.....call me way doubtful on this point...LOL!

I saw families and lives effected very negatively by the addictve properties of pot....I watched it very easily become a prime focus of daily activities of many of my friends. My best friends DH's stopped working and started dealing, or lost theirgood jobs due to poor work habits, attitudes, or drug screen issues. I smell pot a lot in clubs, in restaurants, in parking lots today .....I know a lot of folks still use it and I truly doubt it is being used much differently today in general, knowing what I do about it.

Pro marijuana proponents seem to be in denial of reality on this issue, IMO...as many alcholics are in denial of their illness until they hit bottom.

[suzannasue]

In reference to post #56...

semstr...I am well aware of the behavior of the Nazi's...and I used the term in proper context ...haven't you seen the threads regarding those who are different,those who believe differently???

I have seen "gangs" of nurses pick a target and personally and professionally ruin those they do not understand. My friend as I reported in my previous post was reported not only for smelling like ETOH but for smiling too much. OK...now we can't be happy on the job. Oh and by the way, yes I found my memory jogged by another post..no...no numbers were revealed by the breathalyzer,my mistake...but the facts JACK...the reading or whatever was so ambivalently indeterminate that she was sent home just because there was no clear cut positive or negative. She was sent home because they could state "zero tolerance" and knew that she would comply due to the emotional issues involved. I apologize for posting misinformation. They threatened her with the BON yet had no evidence with which to back up their claims.

I also saw a reference to the "nightinggale pledge" regarding the

refusal to use damaging substances...I also remember part of that thing stating we would walk in purity or some such crock of crap...yeah...right...I am human. I have my opinions.

[nursedawn67, LPN]

If what you do on your off time is not having an impact on your ability at work, then it's not your employers business! [/b]

Thank you! I agree! I have worked ill (no matter what the illness is) and I couldn't think....There are alot of legal and illegal things that impair our thinking....what is important is how we deal with them. Such as not coming to work on any substance and if too ill to think stay home.