Nicotine in pre-employment drug screen?

Nurses Safety

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Specializes in NICU, Peds, Med-Surg.

Hello, I was wondering if most health care employers look for nicotine in pre-employment drug screenings?

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Specializes in Telemetry, ICU, Resource Pool, Dialysis.

I wouldn't think so. It isn't illegal.

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.
I wouldn't think so. It isn't illegal.

Word for word what I was gonna say.......:p

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Specializes in Urgent Care.
I wouldn't think so. It isn't illegal.

There are employers now who will not hire smokers, their reasoning is that it saves on health insurance plans.

I'll see if I can find some examples here somewhere...........

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I've never seen nicotine as part of a drug test. But you never know... ;)

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Specializes in Telemetry, ICU, Resource Pool, Dialysis.
There are employers now who will not hire smokers, their reasoning is that it saves on health insurance plans.

I'll see if I can find some examples here somewhere...........

Wow, do they have a weight cut off? What if you're diabetic? History of CAD? My last employer gave you a 15$ a month break on insurance for being a non smoker. But they didn't test you for nicotine.

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How about me? I take nicotine replacement to stay off smoking. Yep its a drug, a legal one, and I don't smoke it. I WOULD test positive for it though.

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A woman who occasionally smokes cigarettes has filed a sexual discrimination complaint against her former employers, saying she was fired for smoking off the job while male workers who did the same thing were not.

http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/business/96/10/23/smoke.2-0.html

A nurse says he was fired from St. Joseph's Hospital in North Philadelphia for refusing to take a patient outside to smoke a cigarette.

http://www.nbc10.com/news/2723300/detail.html

Michigan health care company has strict

anti-tobacco policy

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6870458

Trend: You smoke? You're fired!

http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2005-05-11-smoke-usat_x.htm

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Last I heard, cigarettes are not illegal.

BUT, I have heard of a few employers that have enacted no smoking policies for workers. They first gave the employees a year or so to quit using comapny sponsered programs. Later they dropped smokers from the health plan and finally they let those who could not quit go.

It's been all over the news.

I sure hope they don't go after fat people next, 'cause even though I exercise three times a week, I still have a spare tire, a lot of junk in the trunk and a pair of oversized headlights.

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The laws vary state to state on drug testing. Nicotine is usually not included, but that's not to say the employers may not start testing for it. As far as it being legal, not all of the drugs tested for are not illegal. For example, if I have a prescription for Percocet (for example) and take a drug test guess what's going to come back positive. You should disclose ANY medication your have recently taken. There are many "legal" OTC meds that can cause a false positive on the drug screen.

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The last hospital I interviewed with for a travel gig told me they don't even want nurses coming on the Unit with the smell of cigarettes on them, and they can't smoke on the hospital grounds at all. No designated areas. Not a problem for me, thank goodness.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Pediatrics, Geriatrics.

I am a smoker...I have been trying to quit for ages and I find this ridiculous that employees would be fired for smoking.

at my facility, we have a strict no smoking policy. I am not allowed to smoke before or at the hospital.

But what I do at home is my business. Its the same concept with alcohol. I am of legal age to buy cigarettes and alcohol, so if I want to go to a bar on my day off and have a beer and a cigarette and watch a football game then I should be able to do so without worrying about getting fired.:angryfire

This is an infringement on one's civil liberties. Smoking is just as dangerous for some as it is for others to eat a fatty diet and clog their arteries...am I going to be fired for going to KFC after work?:rotfl: Where are they going to draw the line? Like one article mentioned, a man was fired from his job for riding a motorcycle on his time off because it was "hazardous". Come on!!!!!

As long as these activities are legal and do not interfere with job performance, then what is the problem...health care costs are not a valid argument, because too many other variables go into disease. Genetics anyone??? How soon will it be before we are denied employment based on our genetic pre-disposition to DM, Heart Disease, Autoimmune d/o, cancer, sickle cell anemia, etc. etc. etc.

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