Was this a fair consequence?

Too ask if the consequence is fair, I don't think you have a choice in the consequence only the accountability. Rule #1. TRUST NOBODY!

I confess 20 years ago I worked as an ICU clerk and assistant for the nurses and I took needles home all the time to practice giving oranges injections.

Never thought a thing about it to be honest and I am no rule breaker. And I was almost 30. I have always been known for good judgement too.

Come to think of it we all took home the occasional supplies for non medical uses.

Yes, I think that seems fair.

Ummmm, no. She stole needles. Only needles.

My mistake only three needles...How much B-12 did she give herself ?

Meh. In the jobs that I've worked at, there's a tacit understanding of what can and cannot be "diverted" from the unit. I've worked and done clinicals on units where taking a single juice from the patient fridge was severely frowned upon -- to places where it was fairly common to see nurses overriding for tylenol for personal use. Personally, my inhaler spacer was diverted from the ER's stockpile by my father (who is a long-time ER doc there)...and I was welcome to take home what probably amounted to a few hundred dollars of wound care dressings on the unit I currently work on in order to practice on my off-time.

I make no claims as to what is right or wrong in these situations. But it at least seems like the OP misread the "culture" of her unit.

I think this is very true. I have had similar experience: I've worked in places that would fire someone for drinking an apple juice, and I've worked in others that drew the line only at the cocaine in the pyxis or the MRI van, and everything else was fair game, lol. When we got new crash carts we all bickered over who was going to sneak the old carts out the back door, lol. My spouse was totally bummed that I didn't get one! Where I work now, no one would bat an eye about 3 syringes. I took some home myself the other day to give my cat her injections!

Fired? In the absence of other infractions, that seems over the top. Disciplined? Seems reasonable.

Yes, they were justified in firing you. They don't know if it was the first time you stole or if you took the needles to give yourself B-12 injections or heroin.

I also don't know how someone else could have known that you took them, unless you told someone.

Just a thought, but it is considered stealing. And last I checked it is against the law.

So? Don't we do this on AN all the time? Sometimes a question to open a thread turns into an opportunity for everyone to chime in with their personal opinion. We're not just a forum to answer homework questions....we also like to discuss amongst ourselves. Personally, that's what keeps me coming back.