I am shocked!!!!

Published

I met one of my classmate I had last semester. I asked her how she did, and said: about a b+ average. Not bad for a pothead, huh?

I was like WHAT?!? She said: yeah, I smoke in the evening sometimes.

I couldn't believe it! Being a nurse, according to the McGill model, is about promoting health. How can marijuana promote health? Also, I don't think that her attitude is professional. Am I right? What do you think?

Specializes in Med-Surg.
That seems a little over the top to me. I don't have a problem with occasional marijuana use (a couple times a year). Is smoking a little weed every few months really any worse than resident physicians who are working in hospitals 48 hours or more without sleep?

If we see anyone endangering a patient either by being impaired or by going 48 hours without sleep, the board of nursing expects us to follow the chain of command and report that person.

If a person casually tells you they smoke weed and you're not at work then the board might leave you alone if they found out you knew. If the person said "I just smoked a joint" and you see it's affecting patient care, they expect for you to report them.

My spouse worked with an alcholic that everyone knew was an alcholic that reeked of alcohol occasionally, but no one said anything because he was such a good nurse. He said they were individually counseled by the manager on the importance of reporting impaired nurses. But the BON didn't get involved.

Again, it doesn't matter what I think about recreational drug use, if I undulge because I think it's no big deal, I'd better be willing to loose my license and face the consequences.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.
Wow...that isn't something that should be broadcast to the world (being a pothead)...although maybe she was high when she said it and didn't realize it:chuckle ). Nurses are supposed to promote health, if we are picking on pot, what about liquor, cigarettes, and things like that...should those be picked on as well?

Alcoholics are considered impaired nurses and can loose their licenses, or enter programs that require monitoring, etc.

I'm not going into my opinion about nurses and their lack of health promotion in their own lives. One would think that as we help others to wellness and teach prevention, we would follow our own advice.

But we are only human, and I've been flamed to a crisp with flames such as "how dare you judge...blah blah blah" when I've talked about obesity, smoking, and poor health practices in nurses, so I'm not going there now. I struggle with health and wellness in my own life for sure. :rotfl:

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There are a lot of "dumb laws" around that we still have to follow simply because IT IS THE LAW. Smoking weed without a script is ILLEGAL. It doesn't matter what the research says, or how many people think it is no more harmful than alcohol. At this point in time, it is still breaking the law. If I run a red light/stop sign simply because i find it dumb to wait at an intersection in the middle of nowhere with no other cars on the road, is it still illegal? you bet! was it dumb to sit there and wait five minutes? you bet. Does that matter? nope. can i still get a citation? you bet! The point is that we all abide by certain rules no matter how dumb we may find them in order to avoid legal troubles. Pot smoking no matter how infrequent, is still illegal drug use and if this person cares so little for his/her reputation and future that she/he would casually blab this to others, I would say that the pot is indeed affecting this persons judgement.

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Wow.....Can't believe they are broadcasting that sort of thing! :o

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It's interesting to me how opinions on marijuana use differ so much, depending on who you talk to. Although I don't indulge in smoking marijuana anymore, I know many who do, several of them nurses. Where I live, many people use marijuana occasionally even though it's illegal. Many would lose their nursing licenses if my facility decided to conduct random drug testing, maybe that's why they've never done so in all the years I've worked there :rolleyes:

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Specializes in LTC, med-surg, critial care.

I'm shocked that the OP was shocked. I've never smoked in my life but plenty of my friends have (or still do). Hearing someone talk about smoking isn't really shocking to me.

Heck, I've cracked jokes about smoking when the semester gets really stressful "I should call my friends and smoke a bowl, this test is stressing me out." No one takes me seriously though.

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Specializes in Trauma ICU, MICU/SICU.

As a recovering addict, I refuse to get into the legal/illegal right/wrong drug debate. However, she is choosing to do an act that she knows is illegal, knows is prohibited both my the BON and the school she is attending. Is this who you want as your nurse?

Also, how the heck is she gonna get a job when she graduates. I don't know any hospitals that DON'T do drug screens.

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Come on, if you are going to do ILLEGAL DRUGS, disclosing to people isn't the brightest thing this woman could do. She ain't the brightest lightbulb on the Christmas tree.

I firmly believe in drug testing. Heck, I used to drug test telecom employees to give them jobs, seems illogical not to drug test healthcare workers routinely and randomly. Additionally, there are schools (like mine) that random drug test nursing students (as do hospitals).

Yeah, I'm conservative. Flame me if you want but would YOU want someone who had done illegal drugs the night before working in an operating room on your mother, daughter, father, or son?

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Specializes in LTC.
Come on, if you are going to do ILLEGAL DRUGS, disclosing to people isn't the brightest thing this woman could do. She ain't the brightest lightbulb on the Christmas tree.

I firmly believe in drug testing. Heck, I used to drug test telecom employees to give them jobs, seems illogical not to drug test healthcare workers routinely and randomly. Additionally, there are schools (like mine) that random drug test nursing students (as do hospitals).

Yeah, I'm conservative. Flame me if you want but would YOU want someone who had done illegal drugs the night before working in an operating room on your mother, daughter, father, or son?

I couldn't have said it better myself!!!

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Specializes in NICU/Neonatal transport.

I am in favor of decriminalization of drugs, but agree with many; it is illegal now, so to indulge is to risk your license.

I think the alcohol/smoking thing is an interesting topic too, I know a girl who sat next to me in micro who smoked and smoked through her pg...I wonder how in the world that person can potentially be a medical professional and do such stupid things.

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

I cannot believe there are some people out there that think that pot has no damaging effects. You know, people once thought that about cigarettes, too.

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As a recovering addict, I refuse to get into the legal/illegal right/wrong drug debate. However, she is choosing to do an act that she knows is illegal, knows is prohibited both my the BON and the school she is attending. Is this who you want as your nurse?

Also, how the heck is she gonna get a job when she graduates. I don't know any hospitals that DON'T do drug screens.

The facility I work in (600 bed teaching hospital, largest in the state) doesn't do drug screens unless maybe the person has a prior record. I don't know of any in my state that perform random screens. As I said MANY people would be out of a job if they did! (Myself not included :p )

Edited to add: On the unit I left a few months ago, several of the nurses used to party and smoke weed together, including the AHN :uhoh21:

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