Our hospital pushed hard for random drug testing in our latest contract. The union gave in, in favor of some other items.
They have started pulling people from their sfifts, escorting to employee health nurse, and demanding urine.
My feelings are mixed. I'm against drug use generally, but actually don't care what people do on their days off. As long as you aren't diverting or impaired on the job, that's good enough for me. I don't see how random testing people who aren't acting suspiciously helps.
There are a lot of things that can impair you at work that don't involve drugs. Sleep deprivation comes to mind. Personal turmoil in one's life can distract a person from doing a good job at work.
Another thing, I've read on the recovery site here that there are things that can interfere with an accurate drug test. Eating certain foods can cause a false positive. It seems like it might be a big complication for innocent people.
As a side note it seems like the union gives up more and more every contract.
Our hospital pushed hard for random drug testing in our latest contract. The union gave in, in favor of some other items.
They have started pulling people from their sfifts, escorting to employee health nurse, and demanding urine.
My feelings are mixed. I'm against drug use generally, but actually don't care what people do on their days off. As long as you aren't diverting or impaired on the job, that's good enough for me. I don't see how random testing people who aren't acting suspiciously helps.
There are a lot of things that can impair you at work that don't involve drugs. Sleep deprivation comes to mind. Personal turmoil in one's life can distract a person from doing a good job at work.
Another thing, I've read on the recovery site here that there are things that can interfere with an accurate drug test. Eating certain foods can cause a false positive. It seems like it might be a big complication for innocent people.
As a side note it seems like the union gives up more and more every contract.
I must agree with your observation Emergent.
In attempting to shed some light on this slow attrition of membership autonomy it has been my experience that the Union at least initially has the effect of raising wages and everybody likes that. But as with all things in life many gains are offset by an eventual cascade of losses which are usually manifested and defined as a crisis of confidence by the membership in the Union through Union's aquiescense to the constant push from management to have their way in all things under what they consider "their roof."
At this juncture the membership will begin to be placated through the shop stewards to just go along with management's program for the sake of workplace peace (drug testing) and to consoladate the improvements in working conditions that the Union's presence has afforded the workers. (real or imagined)
This position on the part of the Union sounds reasonable at first but as more and more ground so to speak is lost to management you will hear members complain that "why are we paying dues if the Union is is not activly advocating for our rights."
The answer to this question is that once the dues are so easily and automatically deducted from paychecks it is then that hospital management and Union leadership become partners in maintaining the status quo, usually at Union memberships' expense.
This arrangement makes for strange bedfellows but bedfellows nonetheless.
NURSGIRL 252, Thank you for your courage in telling your story. Sometimes people need to open their minds to the idea that working with debilitating pain can be more of an impairment because it is all the person can think about. Just wanted to say thank you for being brave and speaking out because most people would not.
Sounds to me like a means of getting rid of the people they don't want... and a control factor. Union workplaces come with the benefit of Seniority and "Just Cause" firing... meaning they cant just get rid of you whenever they want or because they don't like you. Random drug testing... actually put into effect as "random" and without any valid suspicion (due to your behavior, statements, or actions) sounds to me like an excellent loop-hole for Seniority and Just Cause.
In the end, I'm sure that the people they like will be given a second chance or "Help" for any positive test result... but those who they've just been dying to get rid of... well, that's their opening to do it. I don't personally work for a union shop, but my husband is head of the union where he works, so I have quite a bit of insight into company motives when it comes to a union workplace. Personally, I would like to know the language surrounding this drug testing procedure in your contract... I find it odd that they can just pull people off the floor and test them without any evidence or suspicion whatsoever...
Specializes in ER, ICU/CCU, Open Heart OR Recovery, Etc.
Sounds to me like a means of getting rid of the people they don't want... and a control factor. Union workplaces come with the benefit of Seniority and "Just Cause" firing... meaning they cant just get rid of you whenever they want or because they don't like you. Random drug testing... actually put into effect as "random" and without any valid suspicion (due to your behavior, statements, or actions) sounds to me like an excellent loop-hole for Seniority and Just Cause.
In the end, I'm sure that the people they like will be given a second chance or "Help" for any positive test result... but those who they've just been dying to get rid of... well, that's their opening to do it. I don't personally work for a union shop, but my husband is head of the union where he works, so I have quite a bit of insight into company motives when it comes to a union workplace. Personally, I would like to know the language surrounding this drug testing procedure in your contract... I find it odd that they can just pull people off the floor and test them without any evidence or suspicion whatsoever...
I thought about the language and conditions as well. I also wonder if they have other conditions attached to it. If the union was savvy, they were able to negotiate some conditions or policy behind it. Something that the people that supposedly have that positive test and the place is trying to get rid of them can use to check the arbitrariness of the random testing.
Sounds to me like a means of getting rid of the people they don't want... and a control factor. Union workplaces come with the benefit of Seniority and "Just Cause" firing... meaning they cant just get rid of you whenever they want or because they don't like you. Random drug testing... actually put into effect as "random" and without any valid suspicion (due to your behavior, statements, or actions) sounds to me like an excellent loop-hole for Seniority and Just Cause.
In the end, I'm sure that the people they like will be given a second chance or "Help" for any positive test result... but those who they've just been dying to get rid of... well, that's their opening to do it. I don't personally work for a union shop, but my husband is head of the union where he works, so I have quite a bit of insight into company motives when it comes to a union workplace. Personally, I would like to know the language surrounding this drug testing procedure in your contract... I find it odd that they can just pull people off the floor and test them without any evidence or suspicion whatsoever...
I agree with your opening sentence, but then you kind of lose me. Yes, the hospital would like to get rid of users of illegal or unprescribed drugs.
So are you thinking that there are so many in this category that admin can then sort through, and pick the ones they don't like? Then, they take the ones they don't like and fire them, At the same time, they take drug users they do like, and offer a second chance?
I don't have a lot of respect for admin in general. I don't think they have my interests at heart. And, for the most part, I don't always think they have PT safety as a priority. But if I understand your claims, it all seems a bit far fetched.
I agree. Something predisposed the administration to do this. Was it ? Med errors, ? Reduced insurance rates ? Ie compensation claims. Sounds like they are getting a monetary benefit somewhere for using it to assure a better safe place. Random drug testing is expensive and time consuming to administer. One of my positions was in Employee Health so I speak from experience.
It is not acceptable to have any Dilaudid unaccounted for. It's just not.
I've never had any Dilaudid unaccounted for myself, but let's not pretend it wouldn't be incredibly easy to miscount it. I work on a floor with a lot of post-op patients and significant injuries. I'm slinging narcotics like candy all night when I work. I can't even tell you how many times I give Dilaudid in a night. At least ten. If somebody's going to try to call in the cavalcade every time one of our nurses forgets to account for 1mg of Dilaudid, it's going to be a bad time. Deciding somebody is a drug addict because they have drug-needy patients and 1 mg of Dilaudid missing one time in 12 months is a pretty horrible way to go about managing things.
It's entirely possible they noticed other signs and rightfully checked into it. But from the post, it sounds like they cleared him with a UDS and still won't leave him alone. That's not going to make for a good work environment for him or anyone else.
Specializes in ER, ICU/CCU, Open Heart OR Recovery, Etc.
I agree with your opening sentence, but then you kind of lose me. Yes, the hospital would like to get rid of users of illegal or unprescribed drugs.
So are you thinking that there are so many in this category that admin can then sort through, and pick the ones they don't like? Then, they take the ones they don't like and fire them, At the same time, they take drug users they do like, and offer a second chance?
I don't have a lot of respect for admin in general. I don't think they have my interests at heart. And, for the most part, I don't always think they have PT safety as a priority. But if I understand your claims, it all seems a bit far fetched.
Unfortunately not that far fetched. I definitely agree on the other points about not having the interests of either employees and pt safety at heart.
While I agree that off work people should be able to do whatever they want. I was not a social drinker but most people can handle their drinking, pot etc...and I've been clean & sober 27 years (well before I became an RN.) I agree on night shift as well, sleep deprivation made me feel as if I was trying to function on a case of wine so I don't do night shift.
That having been said I work contract/travel, PD and am drug tested for every job, every agency annually so why should regular staff be exempt from drug testing? True, some things show as false positives; I had a friend whose Effexor showed up as PCP but that was no big deal as she just showed them the Effexor, worst case is repeat with a more sensitive test.
As for your comment about complications for 'innocent' people I never have warmed up to the way people with substance abuse problems are criminalized and judged and I'm not sure what you mean by 'generally against drug use.' My experience is this usually is code for everything but marijuana which has a long half-life; like it or not our asinine drug scheduling laws were signed in by Nixon to aid law enforcement and have nothing to do with anyone's health which is why alcohol/tobacco are excluded but marijuana is still a schedule one. I don't smoke it but don't care if others do. Long-winded way of saying it but, again, why should regular staff get a pass when contract, travel & PD get tested more than parolees?
SororAKS, ADN, RN
720 Posts
Reasonable suspicion and for cause, different from purely random drug screening and with objective criteria for defining what constitutes both.