Loss of all personal freedom.

Sour Lemon · May 7, 2018

I am just wondering but as a veteran who fought for his country. Then went to college to become a nurse. How does everyone feel about the loss of personal freedom in healthcare. Hospitals that test for legal substances in the blood (i.e. nicotine) and deny employment. Even in states that workers are protected because hospitals are " non profit" even though we all know they are for profit as you can get cause your CEO drives a jaguar. Denying employment to workers they consider obese and overweight. What are we going to do as Americans and Nurses when they test us for artificial flavorings and sugar products and deny employment. This trend will not stop. The slippery slope has begun.

I guess it would depend on my perspective at any given moment. I'd love to be free to do whatever I'd like as an employee, but doesn't "personal freedom" apply to the people doing the hiring, too?

llg, PhD, RN · May 7, 2018

We don't sacrifice "all personal freedom" when we enter health care. We voluntarily choose to enter a profession in which we are responsible for other people's lives -- knowing that there will be some restrictions on our behavior in order to be worthy of the public's trust. There is a difference.

The employer is free to establish the standards for their staff. If you don't want to meet those standards, you are free to work somewhere else.

Runnerlives · May 7, 2018

So when all employees in this country have to be female 20 to 30 year olds and weight 125lbs with blonde hair and blue eyes cause it's apealin to the person doing the hiring and it looks professional. Your good with that?

Davey Do · May 7, 2018

Welcome to AN.com, Runnerlives!

Thank you for serving our country. It is admirable that you chose to become a nurse and continue to serve others.

I echo what Sour Lemon said, in that I'd like to make my own decisions in life and do whatever I wanted, but alas, that is not the real world. I don't have to like it, I only have to do it. Or deal with the ramifications of my actions.

I could go on and on. Some things are just not right or fair but that's the way life is. We just have to do the best we can with what we have.

"With these oxen, we must plow."

The very best to you, Runnerlives!

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · May 7, 2018

I agree that a lot of employers stick their noses too far into our business. It shouldn't matter to them what we do in our spare time. But it does, and that's the system we work in, so it's best to "go along to get along". At least it's not like it was in my grandmother's day, when nurses could not be married and were only allowed to see "gentleman callers" once a week for a couple of hours (chaperoned, of course). They were expected to attend church on Sundays, and they were not allowed to smoke or drink or do anything unbecoming a person of high moral character, which of course nurses were supposed to be. So it could be worse!

Sour Lemon · May 7, 2018

So when all employees in this country have to be female 20 to 30 year olds and weight 125lbs with blonde hair and blue eyes cause it's apealin to the person doing the hiring and it looks professional. Your good with that?

Yes. There are already countless positions like that, but the girls have to be younger and thinner. It's up to me to decide if I want to buy what they're selling or otherwise do business with them.

Runnerlives · May 7, 2018

What everyone is missing here is it's the insurance companies and the government that dictates all health care. From mandatory flu shots to insurance companies passing edits down on all healthcare and there employees. Nothing but corporate greed and a bunch of upper admin like the 1st replier to this post that tow the company line with some liberal propaganda while showing the homeless from the waiting room back into the street.

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · May 7, 2018

So when all employees in this country have to be female 20 to 30 year olds and weight 125lbs with blonde hair and blue eyes cause it's apealin to the person doing the hiring and it looks professional. Your good with that?

Well, obese people and smokers are not a protected class, but what you're describing above would be illegal. I think it would come to the attention of EEOC if "all employees in this country" were white females.

I get your point, but you are using quite a bit of hyperbole, and that's not really necessary.

CharleeFoxtrot, BSN, RN · May 7, 2018

Personal freedom isn't dead, it's alive and kicking. Coming from someone who is not thin nor 20something and totally not blond (am female though) who has never had an issue with finding great jobs in nursing I respectfully disagree. In this field we willingly undergo routine tox screens as part of the employment process. If an employer makes it known at the outset they test for nicotine too, you have a choice whether or not you can live with that.

allnurses Guide · May 7, 2018

You have an agenda. Therefore I feel honest answers aren't really being sought here, but rather a platform on which to launch your own voice. The whole world is screaming these days. I am tired of listening to be honest. This issue isn't the black and white framework you are implying.

I am sorry you are unhappy. I hope it gets better.

SpankedInPittsburgh, DNP, RN · May 7, 2018

I'm a proud Veteran and nurse also. I'm also a long-time smoker who is quitting (vaping now). Anyway, you still have the right of personal choice. You can smoke all you want. It's a free country. We fought to keep it that way. However, the employer still has some rights also. Statistically a non-smoker; costs less to insure, takes less days off, takes less breaks causing less dissention in the workplace, is more likely to be a credible role-model both for patients and new nurses....

If an employer has to choose between hiring a smoking nurse and a non-smoking nurse its a no brainer. You ain't getting hired. Its money and its business. Welcome to the 21st Century. You have a right to do whatever you want. They have a right to make sound business decisions