Nicotine Drug Testing in the Texas Medical Center

[MA8675309]

Hey guys, so I’m about to graduate from nursing school in May and I’ll be applying to various hospitals in the Texas Medical Center. I’ve heard of hospitals doing nicotine testing in the pre-employment screening, but I’m not sure which hospitals do this nicotine testing. Does anyone know which hospitals do this? Thanks in advance.

[Nunya, BSN]

Memorial Hermann does. They asked me if I smoked, I said no. They then proceeded to tell me the story of a new nurse who lost her (highly competitive and sought after evidently) NICU internship because she came back positive. Tell them you live with smokers but it won't come back positive if you don't smoke. They might ask you a couple times though since they'll smell it on you.

[Night__Owl, BSN, RN]

I get it, but at the same time I think it's ridiculous. I use nicotine replacement to keep me from going back to smoking. But every "smoke free" hospital around here, heck even my insurance company, treats that as same as smoking. I'll quit using nicotine when I'm sure I won't go back to smoking when the craving hits. I can't help it I grew up where I did, and started smoking when I was 12. I did what I needed to in order to quit though, and I think it's a shame that there's places I'm still essentially locked out of for that reason.