Controversial new policies at Baylor!!!!

Nurses General Nursing

Published

This week we were informed that as a Baylor Heath Care System employee, you must submit a personal health screening including: BMI, fasting glucose, BP and cholesterol signed by your physician, as part of a "wellness program."

Ok, fine whatever. BUT if you don't, you will be charged $25 per paycheck!

In addition, Baylor will no long be hiring tobacco users. In addition to your drug screening, you will be screened for nicotine and denied the position if tested positive.

This was on the front page of the Metro section in the Dallas Morning News today, and it has a lot of people up in arms.

What are your thoughts??

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Creepy! Big Brother! Wouldn't want to work there if I had a choice! Hope the rest of America doesn't start doing that!

Obviously not a union place!

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Specializes in Home Care.

This is what they're doing to keep the cost of their healthcare premiums down. They're not the only corporation to do this.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

I live in southwest Fort Worth near two Baylor hospitals, have never applied for a job with the Baylor health system, and never will. Their starting pay rates for newly graduated RNs are downright crappy ($22.50 per hour), and their benefits could be much better.

Baylor can get away with this because their primary service area (Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas) is overly saturated with too many nurses competing for too few jobs in the local employment market. Refusing to hire tobacco users is a weed-out tool. BMI screenings, lab values, and other 'wellness' factors are weed-out tools to reduce the size of the stack of applications that recruiters must sort through. In addition, a healthier pool of employees is supposed to result in less costly insurance premiums.

However, I feel that employers are traveling down a slippery slope. Where are they going to stop? Are they going to continue picking through applicants until they hire only the pretty Stepford Wife nurses who are under the age of forty, tall, and thin? If so, the rest of us are dangerously up the creek without a paddle!

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As if unemployment rates arent already sky high! Now you can be denied a job because you're A:too fat B:Have inherited high BP or cholesterol or C: partake in (legal) nicotine products on your personal time.Before you know it you will be expected to be physically attractive, have perfect grammer and good teeth!!

Ridiculousness

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so what makes the cut i'd like to know?!? a SBP of 130? 140? 150? what the hell sorta lab values are "acceptable?" it's my personal medical info and my boss has no business knowing my blood pressure!

and i'm a nonsmoker but last time i checked nicotine products are legal.

all of the hospital systems in TX start their RNs out at barely over 20/hr, the market is saturated and they can get away with it. i started at less than 22/hr but fortunately i was able to move over that pretty quick...

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.

My thoughts: If you want to work there, you will comply with hiring requirements. If you don't, there are many, many others willing to take that job. Too many unemployed people out there.

Americans are likely going to have to get over some of their feelings of being owed a job. And their "understanding" of what an employer can and cannot require. An employer can place all kinds of requirements of their employees as long as they do not violate discrimination laws, fair labor laws, etc., etc.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Obviously not a union place!
This hospital system in in Texas. The southeastern states and Texas tend to not have any unionized hospitals.
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Glad to know yall agree!! I feel mega-violated, forced to share private information, and worried for the future!!

I just KNOW they are going to stop hiring obese employees next. Where does it end? Who can stop it.......???

And yes, we are obviously NON UNION!!

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i also meant to add, if they dont want tobacco users on our staff, well there goes about 85% of your surgical staff. including the surgeons :D actually they'd lose a good portion of the doctors as well as a good chuck of the nursing staff. whether or not you agree with smoking to deal with it, medicine is stressful work..

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I wonder what they plan to do with the information in the long run? If you screen for Nicotene you are out, next will it be BMI because that is under your control too as part of a healthy diet and excersize program. Too many twinkies , high Triglycerides, high LDL and low HDL you get canned. I thought discrimination for employment purposes was against the law.

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i also meant to add, if they dont want tobacco users on our staff, well there goes about 85% of your surgical staff. including the surgeons :D actually they'd lose a good portion of the doctors as well as a good chuck of the nursing staff. whether or not you agree with smoking to deal with it, medicine is stressful work..

It would be nice if they held docs to the standards mentioned, but many times hospitals get around ruffling physician feathers by saying that docs (except for hospitalists :D) are not technically hospital employees, and so they are exempt.

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