Alcohol in drug screen

[court534]

I have a question- if you do a drug screen for work and you are off work and it’s just an annual screening, do they test for alcohol? I’m curious because I drank a couple of drinks several hours before bc it was the year anniversary of my fathers passing and I was upset/sad of course. I did not thinking anything of it because I was off work from the hospital that day and the next day. If alcohol shows up on a drug screen, buts it legal and I’m not working, do I get in trouble?

thanks for any advice!

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

Define "a couple" of drinks If it was just two drinks.. and more than two hours , you would have metabolized the ETOH. I don't know if your facility tests for ETOH on a random screening. I am sorry for your loss.

[klone, MSN, RN]

No one here can answer that question, as we do not know if your particular facility includes ETOH in the drug screen panel.

[court534]

5 hours ago, Been there,done that said:

Define "a couple" of drinks If it was just two drinks.. and more than two hours , you would have metabolized the ETOH. I don't know if your facility tests for ETOH on a random screening. I am sorry for your loss.

Thanks for replying! It was literally two beers but I don’t know if it had been two hours. I know there’s no way to know if there was an alcohol screen on my drug panel, I was more just wondering how you can get in trouble for having alcohol in your system if it’s legal and you aren’t at work that day or the next. 

[Emergent, RN]

I seriously doubt that having two beers on your day off will affect your employment. They are usually looking for illegal drugs, and THC even if it is legal. I doubt if, even with the patriarchal medical system in regards to nursing, that it's anywhere in your employee handbook that you aren't allowed to have beer on your day off.

[court534]

That’s what I was thinking too but I randomly started getting nervous about it. Thanks for your input and replying back to me :)