Pre employment urine drug screen for nursing home, will they test for alcohol?

cherrybreeze, ADN, RN · Oct 2, 2011

Hahaha right!? I guess our party habits get judged here :) Don't show up to work like that though! And if anybody here can tell me that they haven't had a fun/crazy party night they are lying or boring!
Seriously though, don't party before work, save it for the weekends and everybody needs to relax about the poor guy getting drunk! He just graduated nursing school and passed his boards, lighten up people!
:)

Anything you post on a public forum is open to judgement and interpretation. That's the risk you take in posting anything. Judgement is HUMAN NATURE, and IMO, anyone who claims to not be judgmental (or rather, saying that they "don't" or "never" judge) is LYING. We do it without even realizing we do it. And, let me add....there is nothing wrong with it. Yes, it can be taken too far, don't get me wrong....but everyone and everything is judged on SOME level. That's normal.

lol wow , hey to each his own , but if they do ask you dont say 10-11 beer and you friends house , say two or three glasses of whine with close friends , sounds better, ohh and dont worry about the people calling you a addict they dont no you or your and tolerance , and just cause your a nurse doesnt mean you can dx people

Just because someone has a TOLERANCE that allows them to consume that number of drinks doesn't mean there isn't a problem. In fact, HAVING that tolerance SCREAMS of a problem. It's also not "diagnosing"....it's very common knowledge that consuming that number of drinks in a single sitting is an episode of binge-drinking, and is one of the qualifiers of having a problem with alcohol.

I'd venture to guess by your spelling and grammar that you've had a few before posting....at least, I almost hope so, because the alternative (that you're stone sober and what you typed is perfectly acceptable to you) would be worse?

What were you thinking drinking a case of beer the night before a job interview?!
However, showing up to a JOB INTERVIEW hungover and still possibly "buzzed" is quite possibly the DUMBEST thing I have ever heard.
Save that for your time off when you have nothing else going on, not something like a job interview less than 12 hours later.
I'm not judging you drinking beer, don't think that. I'm judging your brilliant choice to party right before a job interview.

It is possible that you're being facetious, but 10-11 beers is not a "case."

Also, the OP clearly stated that they were going in to sign papers, not to an interview. Not saying that makes it ok, but it wasn't an interview at any rate.

OP:

It doesn't matter a stitch what anyone says here. NO ONE here will know if they tested you for alcohol or not, and if it will affect your chances of getting this job if they did. All the speculation in the world doesn't mean anything. You're asking if it's "common in LTC" to test for alcohol on a pre-employment drug screen. It wouldn't be "LTC"-specific. It would be FACILITY specific. One LTC in your area may test for it, another may not. One may ding you for it and rescind a job offer, another may not. No one here knows, and all you can do it wait....what's done is done. I wish you luck, and hope that you learn from this experience.

It's already been mentioned that 10-11 beers in one sitting is a problem, so should I be mentioning it again? Maybe, maybe not. I don't think most are meaning to put you down, just to make you think about it for a minute. That really IS too many. If you have a tolerance for it....that's a problem, plain and simple.

I have an uncle that is an alcoholic (since he's a POS, I'll just call him a drunk....honestly, if he fell off the face of the earth, I'd probably throw a party....sounds harsh, but there's no way here that I can get in to all the reasons why). Anyway. His EIGHTH DUI (ridiculous, I know) involved cutting off a cop at a stop sign and getting pulled over in his driveway. His BAL was 0.374. That should be enough to KILL someone ("someone" being the drinker, not who he might kill on the road, although that's certainly an issue as well), not allow them to drive home (and by drive home, I mean be awake/alert enough to even ATTEMPT it). He wasn't passed out or dead with that BAL because he's built up such a TOLERANCE over the years. You build up a tolerance with repeated binges. I'm concerned for you. That's just being honest.

carolmaccas66, BSN, RN · Oct 2, 2011

You drank 10 or 11 beers before going into your new work place, to sign paperwork? I am surprised you were able to get up to be out the door and @ your new workplace for 11 am.

I would say stop drinking b4 work the night before and get help. To be perfectly honest, you are drinking way too much and it will catch up with you in the end. You can get away with it when ur young, but not when ur older. U want to have a liver for nursing later on don't you?

Seek help soon matey.

carolmaccas66, BSN, RN · Oct 2, 2011

Wow, there are a lot of judgemental posters on this thread.

We judge because we care.

I have nursed too many people and families who have lost loved ones to alcohol - the relatives who thought their 10 or 20 beers every couple of days/weeks whatever wouldn't do them any harm. Alcoholics always think others set out just to nag them - we nag cos we care. I wish I never had to nurse another alcoholic again, but that will never happen.

I nursed one man who liked his beer. I came from a town oh heavy drinkers - kids were brought up at parties with alcohol everywhere. His family did everything to stop him drinking over the years. He did not drink all the time, but when he did he DRANK anyone under the table (he did work as well) - he was what is called a functioning alcoholic. He was involved in community activities & well known.

Over the years, he was in & out of detox, in hospitals for various tests etc. Well after a while he went yellow, and was told he was dying. He still did not believe all his doctors - he really thought he didn't have a problem - even when he was told he was going to die. He somehow thought everyone 'was just exaggerating' (his words not mine), & we were all making too much of a fuss.

Well, I cared for him just before he died. He got dementia, couldn't do his ADLs after a bit and ended up lying in a bed, messing himself and being changed. I remember his g/daighter going in to see him, & she enede up runing out of the room screaming and crying - she couldn't believe how he'd changed - and the other RN just grabbed her and hugged her tight.

This bloked still used to ask for beers even when he was dying. He was an addict and just died a sodden old drunk, instead of having his g/children around him, enjoying them in his old age.

Guess how old he was? About 50. Yes, not even old now by our standards now. It was very sad but that is the path in life he chose.

Well if nagging is seen as judgemental, I'd rather be seen as judgemental & caring.

Oh & to the 'boring' comment. When I was younger yes we partied, but we used to stop at 12 or 1am and drink water or diet coke, or these inbetween alcoholic drinks. Most nights I didn't have money for alcohol, so we drank iced water! It's great not waking up with a hangover! And we still had some wild nights as well! But my liver is healthy and happy, with normal LFTs - so if I'm BORING, well I'd rather have that than a failing liver. You can't just go buy one at the corner shop - oh, and good luck waiting for a liver transplant - if you have ever seen a patient waiting for one and then they don't get it.....

I'd rather be boring.

RN_jobhunting · Oct 2, 2011

One LTC in your area may test for it, another may not. One may ding you for it and rescind a job offer, another may not. .

ding me for it how? by calling the BON? or just rescind the job offer?

cherrybreeze, ADN, RN · Oct 2, 2011

ding me for it how? by calling the BON? or just rescind the job offer?

*sighs*

If that's ALL you have to say after the many posts here, then all I'll say is this:

Stop obsessing. You'll find out when you find out. How the heck would I know?

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Oct 2, 2011

*sighs*
If that's ALL you have to say after the many posts here, then all I'll say is this:
Stop obsessing. You'll find out when you find out. How the heck would I know?

Exactly. No one here can tell you what's going to happen. We DON'T know.

canesdukegirl, BSN, RN · Oct 2, 2011

i don't mean to sound **^@*y, and i don't have time to read through all 6 pages of responses right now, so forgive me if this has been said already.
i am guilty of not reading through every page prior to responding to a post, but i usually read the original post thoroughly before i reply. i encourage you to at least thoroughly read the original post in the future before throwing verbal darts at a member.
what were you thinking drinking a case of beer the night before a job interview?!
he didn't drink a case. he wasn't going on an interview.
alcohol is not illegal, you can do what you want on your time off. they would fire your butt on the spot if you tested positive while working and report you to the bon.
this is a non-issue. he wasn't working, and i am sure that he clearly understands the implications and consequences of being impaired while working.
however, showing up to a job interview hungover and still possibly "buzzed" is quite possibly the dumbest thing i have ever heard.
um...wasn't a job interview.
what were you thinking? seriously?
save that for your time off when you have nothing else going on, not something like a job interview less than 12 hours later.
i'm not judging you drinking beer, don't think that. i'm judging your brilliant choice to party right before a job interview.
good grief.
kelly

again, i hear what you are saying. in essence, you are stating that you shouldn't get wasted prior to a job interview. you are right-that is the epitome of stupid, but the scenario that the op described is not, in fact, his "brilliant choice to party right before a job interview", but rather his anxiety regarding a drug test that he had to take for pre-employment after going to a party.

please read and understand the original post prior to flaming a poor member.

kids · Oct 3, 2011

hahaha right!? i guess our party habits get judged here :) don't show up to work like that though! and if anybody here can tell me that they haven't had a fun/crazy party night they are lying or boring!
seriously though, don't party before work, save it for the weekends and everybody needs to relax about the poor guy getting drunk! he just graduated nursing school and passed his boards, lighten up people!
:)

i have never had a fun/crazy party night that included drinking when i had responsibilities the next day. it's not a matter of lying or boring, it's a matter of being a responsible adult and not wanting to risk something i worked hard for.

i'm not judging the op's party habits, i'm judging their poor judgement in getting hammered the night before, knowing s/he had an appointment with the employer the next day. i'm judging their admitted consumption of so much alcohol that s/he's still "buzzed" the next morning, and possibly still was when s/he drove to the employer and signed the paperwork.

the night before i drank about 10 or 11 beers, i probably went to sleep around 1am and the drug test was around 11am the next day.

yea i don't know what time we started drinking but i definitely stopped around 2am, and took the test around 11am the next day

so which is it? did you "probably" go to sleep around 1 or "definitely" stop drinking around 2?

i've had a zillion urine screens(agency/travel). i highly doubt any tested for etoh.
it's a cost that they would not want to incur. etoh is checked when you are injured on the job or suspected of drinking on the job.
on the off chance they did.... how high could your level be after 9 hours?? could show a little alcohol, so you had a mimosa with breakfast that morning... it's legal.
try to relax ,keep us posted when that nothing happened.

depending on if the op is male or female potentially high enough to still be legally drunk.

http://www.globalrph.com/bac.cgi

http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/drivingissues/1127227453.html

as for the original question...a ua isn't going to tell them that you got hammered the night before, only that you drank in the previous few days. it's physical indicators of recent excess consumption that are going to be the tip off.

RN_jobhunting · Oct 3, 2011

i have never had a fun/crazy party night that included drinking when i had responsibilities the next day. it's not a matter of lying or boring, it's a matter of being a responsible adult and not wanting to risk something i worked hard for.
i'm not judging the op's party habits, i'm judging their poor judgement in getting hammered the night before, knowing s/he had an appointment with the employer the next day. i'm judging their admitted consumption of so much alcohol that s/he's still "buzzed" the next morning, and possibly still was when s/he drove to the employer and signed the paperwork.
so which is it? did you "probably" go to sleep around 1 or "definitely" stop drinking around 2?
depending on if the op is male or female potentially high enough to still be legally drunk.
http://www.globalrph.com/bac.cgi
http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/drivingissues/1127227453.html
as for the original question...a ua isn't going to tell them that you got hammered the night before, only that you drank in the previous few days. it's physical indicators of recent excess consumption that are going to be the tip off.

so what would they do if they suspected anything? rescind the offer because they thought i was drunk?

linearthinker, DNP, RN · Oct 3, 2011

If I had this kind of clue before the Is were dotted and the Ts were crossed and I was stuck with someone who

a) probably has a substance abuse problem or

b) at the very least demonstrates some very immature thinking and exceedingly poor judgement,

yes, I'd definitely rescind the offer.

Will they? How the heck would we know?

xtxrn, ASN, RN · Oct 3, 2011

Hahaha right!? I guess our party habits get judged here :) Don't show up to work like that though! And if anybody here can tell me that they haven't had a fun/crazy party night they are lying or boring!
Seriously though, don't party before work, save it for the weekends and everybody needs to relax about the poor guy getting drunk! He just graduated nursing school and passed his boards, lighten up people!
:)

If that requires impairment from drinking to be "fun"....I'm boring as a rock. Did I ever do some stupid drinking when I was MUCH younger? Yep....big fool for doing it, also. :) Was never buzzed the next day- or even hung over.

Social drinking doesn't leave someone "buzzed" 10 hours later.

Safety, judgement, dependability, maturity, integrity....just a few things a future employer could read into a urine test + for ETOH at 11 a.m.

High risk behavior has high risk consequences- to the person doing them, and those they encounter. Not a judgement- but a huge concern. It sounds like the OP has learned from this. But still could have to pay for it with a rescinded job offer. IDK.

caroladybelle, BSN, RN · Oct 3, 2011

I used to work for an agency that did test for alcohol......at least once a year. We were warned ahead of time, though.

And, yes, a company can refuse to hire you if you use a substance, even if legal. There are increasing numbers of facilities refusing to hire smokers.

Did this facility test for alcohol? Perhaps, you should have asked. Will they rescind the job offer....... Only they know and in time, you will find out