Nursing Student Drug Tests

[karl rove]

I'm considering applying at OCCC nursing school but the random drug test is off putting. I had never even heard of an academic program using a drug test before.

I won't go into my moral or pragmatic objections to this. I'm wondering from those who have personal experience (at any school) how the drug test worked and how much notice you were given, where the test is taken, etc.

[RNewbie]

I attended a program that did random drug testing. Each term students were randomly tested. Somehow the school selected a small percentage of students each term through some type of random selection process. They would have them leave class and go to the student health center. The majority of ppl never got tested and the ones I knew that did never failed. I think drug testing is a good idea.

[Picklefreak]

I'm pretty sure all nursing programs do dome sort of drug testing. The facilities where they do clinicals require it, as well as criminal background checks and immunization records. Most healthcare facilities will require these things as conditions of employment as well.

Where i went to school we were tested during a class period. We knew we would be screened at some point but were not told the date. We had to show i.d. and empty our pockets, etc.

[JJRN12]

I just graduated from OCCC's BADNAP program. You don't get any notice - we were all tested on the same day during a scheduled class time. They outsource it to a company who sends a rep to explain the process, everybody gets in line and goes into the restroom one at a time. The rep explains that if you are taking a prescription medicine that shows up in the results, they will call you to verify what you are taking and that you have a prescription. It is confidential in that they only tell the school if you passed or failed.

I agree with what Picklefreak commented below - "The facilities where they do clinicals require it, as well as criminal background checks and immunization records. Most healthcare facilities will require these things as conditions of employment as well."

[Samantha Stark]

They got the entire orientation class. Guy came in after our break to say no one was leaving without a drug test. Definitely caught some people off guard since we were told the drug test would be before clinical started which was still a month out.