Worried about drug screen

Students General Students

Published

Greetings!

So... I have my first clinicals starting soon (like next week soon) and I am worried that the clinical sites might require a drug test. I have already passed a yearly drug test back in Jan. or so, required by the school.

How likely is it for sites to drug test when you already have one on record?

As a backstory:

Ate a pot brownie the other day. Didn't think much of it (for the past few weeks I've had one or two weekly, usually - but previously NEVER had pot of any sort). Then I realized how soon clinicals are coming up and I'm really freaking out now.

I know this was a bad mistake, but I would really like to not be kicked out of nursing school. I also looked at the handbook and it only mentions the already mentioned drug screen and testing for cause.

Not a "pothead" and frankly, I wouldn't have touched the stuff if I had remembered. :bag:

pmabraham, BSN, RN

2 Articles; 2,563 Posts

Specializes in Hospice, Palliative Care.

RE: Intake of pot without thinking of any ramifications of doing drugs...

I've had one or two weekly

Hmmmm... I can only hope for your sake you pass your test, and never take illicit drugs again; or at least stay away from treating patients until drugs are completely out of your system.

At my school, they did random ones all the time. You could be called out of class or out of clinical for it. It was purely luck of the draw who got called in. You only had a couple of hours to report to Employee Health to do it.

VerticalHorizon

106 Posts

Maybe you shouldn't do drugs if you are in nursing school. You said you wouldn't have eaten them if you had remembered clinics were coming up but why did you think it was okay to do drugs in school in the first place? You are going to be drug tested the rest of your career if you work in the medical field, smarten up.

At my school, they did random ones all the time. You could be called out of class or out of clinical for it. It was purely luck of the draw who got called in. You only had a couple of hours to report to Employee Health to do it.

Thank you for answering the question. Yeah I've never seen that happen at my school (or heard of it), so I'm not really worried, but still concerned.

Guess I'll stick to alcohol (like the rest of the nursing students.....) since it's *so* much better for you! :eyeroll:

Also: I'm on summer break... It's not like I'm going to be doing pot brownies before going to work(or school) every day... just not that kind of person... I would never put my patients at risk. Made a simple mistake and I am hoping it doesn't come back to haunt me. That's literally it.

CrunchRN, ADN, RN

4,530 Posts

Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.

Yum brownies lol. Just roll with it and realize you cannot afford to do it again ever as long as you want to be or are a nurse. Sad sigh.

G33L

98 Posts

The point of drug tests are to make sure you don't do drugs while you are a student, period. Please don't do drugs altogether, there is no need for you to be biting your nails over something that has absolutely nothing to do with your job as nurse/nursing student. Don't jeopardize what you have worked hard for!

It depends on how much pot was in the brownies, how long you've been eating them and how frequent your ingestion is. It's going to be impossible for us to help you, unfortunately.

Drink lots of water, and I'll cross my fingers for you!

Erythropoiesis

305 Posts

Thank you for answering the question. Yeah I've never seen that happen at my school (or heard of it), so I'm not really worried, but still concerned.

Guess I'll stick to alcohol (like the rest of the nursing students.....) since it's *so* much better for you! :eyeroll:

Also: I'm on summer break... It's not like I'm going to be doing pot brownies before going to work(or school) every day... just not that kind of person... I would never put my patients at risk. Made a simple mistake and I am hoping it doesn't come back to haunt me. That's literally it.

This isn't a "I can't believe you did drugs as a nursing student" comment, but rather I just can't believe you would risk throwing all of your hard work away. I have smoked weed a handful of times, but the last time was two years ago when I became really serious about getting into nursing school. Pot brownies are awesome, but it is really worth risking your entire career over? I would never take a chance like that over something so small and non-important. Alcohol is legal to partake in, so yes, alcohol looks like it's your safest bet right now the next time you feel like unwinding. Even as a nurse, you still can't do it because employers do random drug testing all the time. I get where you're coming from. You were not under the influence while in school, and you were on break, so it didnt seem like a huge issue at first. Unfortunately this is something we all gave up when we chose this profession :(

If you have a low BMI and you are physically active, it clears from your system faster. It's just going to come down to whether or not you still have detectable levels of it in your urine. I hope you pass.

Yeah. I just really wish I hadn't. I guess it just seemed like such a small thing. I had no idea it was detectable in urine LONG after use until I did some research, either. My fault. I am just hoping for the best... I'm an Honors student trying to do the best I possibly can and losing this would effectively ruin my life. I do appreciate the input, though. :/ We'll see how it goes...

why don't you just do an otc drug test...just to calm your nerves a little

why don't you just do an otc drug test...just to calm your nerves a little

This ^

+ Add a Comment