I am shocked!!!!

renerian, BSN, RN · Jan 1, 2005

I am with you......

renerian :)

CritterLover, BSN, RN · Jan 2, 2005

i was told that the drug test they do only checks to see if you have taken drugs in like the last 24-48 hours which does seem pretty pointless

urine drug screens look for drug metobolites in the urine. most recreational drugs are water-soluble (cocaine, opiates, etc), and so are flushed from the body pretty quickly. marijuana, on the other hand, is fat soluble and can be detected for a much longer time. sometimes even months.

the school i went do didn't do random drug screens, either. they only did a drug test if they were suspicious. and while i've had a pre-employment drug screen at every hospital i've worked at, i've never worked anywhere that did random checks unless someone was on probation.

however, i have worked with impaired nurses. didn't know it at the time (i guess i was a little naive), but i've worked with nurses who would go out and party all night, drinking and smoking, get in around 5am, shower and do some cocaine so they would be awake enough to go to work. very scary. (they have since gone through rehab; i've since learned better how to spot an impaired nurse!)

penguin2 · Nov 28, 2006

Never touch the stuff myself (I hate smoke!), but I think it should be legalized. How many people smoke pot and beat their wives? How many people smoke pot and crash their cars? Pot doesn't lead to violence, it leads to mass little debbie consumption! Alcohol is the drug that leads to the most ED visits. Would the OP report being "shocked" if her fellow student admitted drinking a glass of wine with dinner?
Many municipalities (oakland, ca for one) have voted to decriminalize pot. Many states have provisions that allow for mj use with an RX.
It is just as illegal to work impaired by pot as it is to work impaired by any substance at all. Just because a nurse has a prescription for a narcotic, does not mean he can work while under its influence. That should be the standard to judge by. Is this affecting pt care? If yes, report it now. If not, keep it to yourself.

:yeahthat:

jov · Nov 28, 2006

urine drug screens look for drug metobolites in the urine. most recreational drugs are water-soluble (cocaine, opiates, etc), and so are flushed from the body pretty quickly. marijuana, on the other hand, is fat soluble and can be detected for a much longer time. sometimes even months.

i think "months" is a bit of a stretch? the length of time cannabis metabolites may be detected, on average, on a standard urine screen is typically no longer than ten days for chronic users and between 3-4 days for infrequent users, according to a literature review published in the current issue of the journal drug court review. sure, if you're a fat, old, sick hippie-burnout...the levels stay higher and longer...but talk to any pathologist who works in a lab (like quest) and they'll tell you a week-10 days at most.

blueberrybon · Nov 28, 2006

Great topic! It gives me incentive to be vigilant in awareness of my fellow co-workers. I think the original "pot head" who was the reason for this thread being started, may have been pulling someones leg. Hopefully he/she just spouted the statement for shock value. Maybe someone called her/him a "pot head" during school, and he/she was just being a smart a**. I would hope that there are far less "pot heads" out there than this thread is leading me to believe.

MB37 · Nov 28, 2006

I am a firm believer in the rights of consenting adults to do whatever they choose in the privacy of their own homes. Educate them about the risks involved, and let them drink/drug/fornicate to their heart's content, as long as they are not endangering anyone else. The government does not agree with me, however, so certain things are still illegal. You should not smoke pot before work, just as you shouldn't stop off for a beer and a shot. Working impaired should be illegal/grounds for firing (depending on profession), but becoming impaired when your time is your own, you aren't driving, and you have the next day off should be completely up to you. That being said, while I have "experimented" in the past, I stopped completely 3 years ago when I decided I wanted to go to nursing school and signed up for prereqs. I was far from a heavy user, but occasionally may have not said no. It's not just drug tests you have to worry about, it's getting pulled over for speeding and having them decide to search your vehicle, or being at a friend of a friend's house when the cops break down the door. Drugs may be fun, and some are probably no more harmful than cigarettes or alcohol, but they are illegal and you are risking your license every time you are even in the same room with them - let alone admitting use to your classmates. To me, they are nowhere near worth it. Now I only partake of legal substances, and would never go out the night before a clinical. Sorry about the rant, it's just a topic I feel very strongly about.

mom2cka · Nov 29, 2006

an instructor once told us that the local hospitals don't do random tests because too many nurses would be fired... that was a bit of an eye opener...

KungFuFtr · Nov 29, 2006

There's an interesting book called Ur-ine Trouble written by an MD. It's about drug testing and false positive resulting from foods and other meds. Also included are methods people use to increase their chances of passing these tests.

blueberrybon · Dec 20, 2006

Ur-ine trouble! Love it!:rotfl:

I RN A · Dec 20, 2006

Personally I don't think it is right. There are several students in my class who smoke cigarettes, more tan 50% of peolple in the class are overweight, some are really obesed. I have seen some eating lunch and their diet is far away from being even slightly healthy. Many never exercise. How is it for health promotion? Being NS tudent is hard. As long as you don't harm anyone you are allowed for your personal choices while in NS. Most of us may not agree with the other's choices, but everybody is different. I might hate the way the smoker smells, but for the smoker it is a personal relieve to smoke a cigarette. It is like educating a pt. You tell them what it is and what are their choices, but it is up to the pt. to decide what route they will take.

cozzy66 · Dec 20, 2006

reading through all these responses i'm actually surprised to see so many people who think negatively about marijuana. after all the studies, it's basically been concluded that the active compound, THC (edit: oops wrote TSH, still thinking about my A&P1 final), does nothing to effect you negatively in the long term. the main problem is the way the drug is consumed - by smoking it (no matter how you do it, joint, bong, bowl) - which leads to lung cancer, emphysema, etc. smoking through a vaporizer, nothing negative - safer than drinking alcohol.

of course, this is solely if you are doing it in your off time and there is no chance of it hurting anyone. and it is also only applies to non-addicts.

by the way, the information above was recited to a class of medical students in pharmacology class in an ivy league medical school.

also, i don't know how many of you will be surprised, but i know that a number of people (at least 10% of his class) in my partner's ivy league medical school smoke MJ - even MD/PHD students. you know, to destress.

on the other hand, it is still illegal. i haven't smoked it in over two years and don't plan to do it until it's either legalized or i don't have to worry about being drug tested. it's not worth being high for a few hours and then lose your license over it. this is why we need to work on legalizing it to the level of alcohol.

manofcare · Dec 20, 2006

You know a buddy of mine, that is a semester ahead of me in the ADN program, coined an interesting term. He calls it the Grandma Test. One scenario given in school was if you would give a med that has been dropped on the hospital floor to your pt.? Using the Grandma Test tells you that you would not give that med to your Grandma, so why would you admin. to your pt.? Instead of focusing on what your rights are to intoxicate yourselves, legally or not, why don't you ask yourselves the question. Would I want a nurse that was intoxicated, high, messed up, stoned, wasted, working on my Grandma? Would I want the Nurse that partied two nights ago working on my Grandma? YOU are the last line of defense for your pt.! While you are rationalizing whether you are good enough when you only smoke dope three times a week or every day, why don't you ask if you would be a better nurse if you didn't smoke dope at all.

Don't try to tell me that there are no harmful effects from using, that grass should be named the next healthy choice. I grew up in the seventies and I have seen real usage. Why do think we called it dope?