Should a nursing student be given a 2nd chance if they have a positive drug screen

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If a nursing student is caught with a positive drug screen do you think they should be given a second chance? should she be kicked out of school? Ok so here is the story, my classmate has got be the dumbest person ever? She went to a physical exam for a job and she was reeking of alcohol. She said they did a breath test on her and it came up positive. Now this is where the story is really interesting, they also did a drug screen on her and she is worried that it will come back positive for marijuana and if it does, the place of employement will notify the school and their is a possibly that she will be kicked out of the nursing program. She claimed that she doesn't smoke weed all the time, however, if you are a once and a blue-moon smoker I think it can take upto 6 months to get out of your system providing that you don't smoke again for awhile. I know, at my place of employement, we do have nurses who have been caught in the past for drugs or pills and they have to go through rehab program and then, they have to call a number every morning and they may have to report for a drug screen. It does vary, they could report everyday or once a month. So my question is should nursing students be given the same chance as a RN who was caught doing drugs?

Specializes in mostly in the basement.

Wow...

I'm very late to the discussion but want to drop my thoughts in. I'm definitely going to have to sway to the, shockingly small, minority who think it's possible there is room for redemption here.

1. THC stays in the urine up to 30 days, usually. The 'chubbier' you are the longer it'll stay. I would imagine if every single nursing student were tested for MJ tomorrow morning that the number who came up positive would be surprising. Is this a good thing? No....Just worth noting and wonder if every one of them will and should lose their 'hard earned' spot and chance to even graduate without any thought to a 'second chance, not just for school but for the entire career?' For that matter, was the rest of the OP's class and entire nursing school also immediately given a drug test? Why or why not? BTW, of course her repeat screen came back +. If you smoke on Saqturday and test at the physical the next week and again 5 days later, it's still gonna be the same positive. I don't see how that was even relevant unless they shelled out the bucks to get a 'level' done. Not likely...

2. While stupid, granted, blowing positive on an alcohol breathalyzer does not indicate that anyone is 'impaired'. What was the reading? We're talking about as little as .02. Less than a drink, for some. Do we know what time this physical was? A day off from everything but the physical, after lunch, etc. Geez, maybe her dad just found out he got promoted and everyone had some champagne. She wasn't there to do patient care, just who was she going to potentially endanger? Again, agreed, it is dumb to show up for any school/work situation after drinking anything but 'blowing positive' and 'reeking'(whose subjective judgement was that in the first place, btw..the doc? a frenemy? we're missing that piece, too) could conceivably be a long way from drunk or remotely impaired. Didn't we cover this before about a drink w/dinner before NOC shifts? I don't condone that either but a number of folks did and I guarantee we couldn't afford to lose every nurse who shows up at 2300 who 'registers' on a breath test.

Anyway, bottom line, this girl, as painted by OP, does sound like she has issues and would do well to get some help and move on from there. Truthfully, the academic culture as described comes off a bit toxic to me given the condoned gossip, the dean, etc...perhaps she truly is better off out of there. It just seems a little bit a rush to judgement by so many here when we really don't know the whole story and this could very well be a 'perfect storm' of coincidence and I'm not sure we want to be so harsh in our criticisms when the penalties can be so severe.

To each their own but that's my take.

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Specializes in ER, TRAUMA, MED-SURG.
Is it safe to say she drove to the interview drunk as well?

That's what I was wondering.

Anne, RNC

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Specializes in NICU PICU Peds Cardiology.

NO! One mess up like that in the beginning of her school and she wants to be responsible for my family and friends life when and if she actually made it through nursing school,I DO NOT think so. Sorry, Like Daytonight says you never completely miss an oppertunity someone else will find it and take it. She had hers lost it and now someone else will find it.

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Well I can't really pass judgment on the alcohol, b/c I love my beer, and it loves me. But if she smokes weed too.... She is just an idiot. Having said that, I personally believe that weed is much safer than alcohol overall, and should and pretty much will be legal sooner rather than later. Even though I never touch the stuff since I am 1.) Allergic to leaf smoke, as in cigarettes, weed, leaf burning in the fall etc. 2.) Not a big fan of losing my job over something lame like smoking weed.

But like everyone said, she's basically the dumbest person ever for showing up to a drug test that way. And until they make weed legal, it isn't. So NO SOUP FOR YOU. Give someone else a chance. She blew hers.

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i think a person should be rehabilitated. because we're nurses we care about people's health and wellbeing.

i really don't believe the person should be kicked out of the nursing program. because they deserve a second chance.

but sadly competition is intense. i would just like the person to receive a second chance. if not at her program. but for another one. for this not to disqualify her chance. at least yanno make her equal to the other applicants again.

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Specializes in heart failure and prison.

It would be nice to be given a second chance however, she messed up by coming to a physical drunk according to her breathalizer test and she further messed up by having a hot drug screen. Now I know that some people feel she should be given a second chance but, what if she went to clinical, taking care of a patient in that capacity and what if she caused harm to a patient or worst. How could explain that to a family member? I think the school did the right thing by kicking her out she is a liability. should she banned for good? That should be based on her rehab. I think you have a problem if you come to a physical drunk. Maybe this will force her to admit she does have a problem and seek help.

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i really don't believe the person should be kicked out of the nursing program. because they deserve a second chance.

Why exactly does ANYONE deserve a second chance???

We only deserve a FIRST chance.

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Maybe she should have a second chance down the road, but she ought to earn it by doing a successful rehab and maintaining sobriety for a specified length of time. She should have to prove that she's worth taking a chance on before she gets a spot in another class. And she should have to agree to random testing along the way. Anything less than that and she may think she got away with something and not take her extraordinary opportunity seriously enough.

If this seems like she's being asked to jump through hoops, that's the way it should be. With the competition level today from people who are ready and able to attend school and give it their best, she needs to agree to do whatever it takes to redeem herself for bungling her first chance.

If she isn't willing to do this or something similar, she probably doesn't understand the significance of her actions and may not be dedicated enough to stay away from further temptation.

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Specializes in heart failure and prison.
Maybe she should have a second chance down the road, but she ought to earn it by doing a successful rehab and maintaining sobriety for a specified length of time. She should have to prove that she's worth taking a chance on before she gets a spot in another class. And she should have to agree to random testing along the way. Anything less than that and she may think she got away with something and not take her extraordinary opportunity seriously enough.

If this seems like she's being asked to jump through hoops, that's the way it should be. With the competition level today from people who are ready and able to attend school and give it their best, she needs to agree to do whatever it takes to redeem herself for bungling her first chance.

If she isn't willing to do this or something similar, she probably doesn't understand the significance of her actions and may not be dedicated enough to stay away from further temptation.

Well said!!!

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