Weed and work.

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in Labor and Delivery.

A classmate of mine is a heavy cannabis user. To the point where he has not even applied for any positions yet because he is certain that his pre-screening drug test will come back positive. He says that he just has to stay clean long enough to pass the drug screening because "hospitals hardly ever drug tests to nurses."

How true is this? How often are nurses screened at YOUR facility? I was going to ask my preceptor, but I think me asking will look weird..

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Nurses are screened as often as necessary. Stay off drugs :-)

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They call 'em "random" drug tests for a reason ...

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Specializes in Labor and Delivery.
Nurses are screened as often as necessary. Stay off drugs :-)

Im not on drugs.

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Specializes in Labor and Delivery.
They call 'em "random" drug tests for a reason ...

Yeah I know. That's why I was asking how often it's done at YOUR facility, or if they even do them at all.

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

They do them randomly. Meaning no apparent pattern UNLESS you are acting sketchy/ impaired - in which case you can count on an immediate test.

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Specializes in ICU.

Your friend is going to have some challenges if that is his attitude. Hospitals test randomly, or if there is an injury on the job, or if there a suspected narcotic diversion. Getting clean for the just for first urine specimen will not work. His choice of indulging in this particular drug could lead him to losing his license if he is caught with it in his system.

It is not worth the risk.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

I was drug tested only when applying. Over three years ago.

They do them randomly, but I don't know anyone who has said they have been chosen for a random. I work in a huge hospital though.

I know several people who have been tested after on the job injuries/incidents because that's our policy. Even with needle sticks. Also when there is a big narcotic discrepancy.

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Specializes in Labor and Delivery.
Your friend is going to have some challenges if that is his attitude. Hospitals test randomly, or if there is an injury on the job, or if there a suspected narcotic diversion. Getting clean for the just for first urine specimen will not work. His choice of indulging in this particular drug could lead him to losing his license if he is caught with it in his system.

It is not worth the risk.

I tried to relay this message to him NUMEROUS times. But I think he is officially addicted. He has personality changes after a few days without smoking. He gets angrier easily, cant concentrate, is like a ticking time bomb. I hate it for him, but it's kinda one of those "none of my business" situations..

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Specializes in ER, Med-surg.

Not commonly, but I've had a pre-employment test for every job I've ever had, and everyone I know who has been injured on the job has had to take an immediate tox screen as part of workman's comp, as well as if there's any suggestion of impairment during a shift. And most jobs require you to agree to a drug screen when asked or face termination. I have seen employees asked for urine during a shift before because there was a suspicion they were impaired.

They don't generally want to fire good employees, so it's true they aren't likely to whip out random drug screens for most employees for no reason, but if they *do* want to fire someone for whatever reason, or if there's any suggestion of impairment, yeah, they can and do. And I have seen instances where it appeared that they were assigning "random" drug tests to several employees to obscure the fact that they were targeting one of them for termination- which is no consolation to the staff members randomly selected as part of the screen if they happen to test positive.

Of course one can't control getting hurt on the job accidentally, and having to choose between giving up worker's comp for an injury or facing termination for a positive drug screen is a tough spot to be in. "That positive is from the weekend, I'm sober right now" isn't a viable defense in that scenario. They'll fire you anyway. And my understanding is you may not be eligible for workman's comp in that case, as well, since they can argue that the accident was your fault for coming to work impaired (even if you weren't actually impaired).

It's true that random drug tests aren't common in nursing, but being drug tested at work at unpredictable times is still common enough to make losing a job over recreational drug use a reasonable concern. It's a lot of time and money to invest in a career only to lose it for something totally in one's control.

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Specializes in ICU.

Then he's going to learn the hard way that his habit/addiction is not compatible with a career in healthcare.

I suggest making him aware of some resources, such as counseling and support groups, and be done.

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Screened on hire, then if any controlled substance goes missing, all staff members on the floor are tested before they go home. Feels silly when you're all tearing a room apart for that dropped Ambien. It seems to average out to about once a year for me, but if he's using recreational pharmaceuticals with any regularity, he'll probably get caught sooner rather than later.

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