What did someone do that you knew to get fired or kicked out of school?

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I've heard it said that most nurses who get fired are released for drug abuse. Do you find this to be the case in your experience?

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, educator.

Not where I work, it is for calling in over your sick hours or a huge mistake where you are tactfully asked to resign.

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Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.

Students are kicked out of school generally for failing classes/clinical.

Nurses can lose their jobs for many reasons. Drug abuse is only a small part of those that lose there jobs. Other reasons that I have seen include multiple/serious med errors, abuse mental/physical of patients, undependability (read:too many absences/call outs). Quite frankly, here in the South, nurse managers may write you up for not wearing makeup or not wearing enough white, anything that they want as fewer hospitals are unionized.

More often, the employees that are not liked by management are "run off" through excess floating, undesirable assignments, lousy schedules rather than being fired outright.

Due to the shortage, however, I see more bad employees getting kept on staff....which tends to make everyone miserable. One bad apple can truly spoil the whole basket.

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Students are kicked out of school generally for failing classes/clinical.

Nurses can lose their jobs for many reasons. Drug abuse is only a small part of those that lose there jobs. Other reasons that I have seen include multiple/serious med errors, abuse mental/physical of patients, undependability (read:too many absences/call outs). Quite frankly, here in the South, nurse managers may write you up for not wearing makeup or not wearing enough white, anything that they want as fewer hospitals are unionized.

More often, the employees that are not liked by management are "run off" through excess floating, undesirable assignments, lousy schedules rather than being fired outright.

Due to the shortage, however, I see more bad employees getting kept on staff....which tends to make everyone miserable. One bad apple can truly spoil the whole basket.

NOT wearing make up? I've heard it all now. :rolleyes:

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Specializes in ER.

"Not wearing makeup"....they'd be firing me before I made it thru my first shift!

Now of course if you get used to seeing someone with good make up on and then they come in au natural.....it can be a scary thing!:roll

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

Several in my class were out because of grades.

I know of two that failed, that used to whine on monday about being hungover from Saturday night. One didn't take the shrink-wrap off of her med-surg book, yet she said she studied 12 hours for a test (still trying to figure out what you study in 12 hours without taking the plastic off of the book.

We lost another related to testing positive for marijuana (as hard as people work to get into a nursing program, why in the world would you blow it by doing something so stupid).

Another called an instructor at home and threatened her. Gee, that was effective!

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I agree, a resident in my husband's residency (radiology, no less) tested positive for marijuana and couldn't start his residency. Can you imagine?

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I've seen many nurses lose their jobs for inadequate/inappropriate patient care. When I was teaching nursing, we kicked two students out for cheating. I've only been personally aware, in the ~20 years of my career, of one nurse getting fired for drug use -- turned out she was diverting narcs in the ER (the hospital didn't catch on until the state DEA came swooping in one night and raided the place -- small, rural hospital).

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i have never seen anyone being written up for not wearing or wearing too much makeup

i have seen people eased out the door for having unclean or shabby uniforms

but the biggest cause of firing is undependability, either in calling in numerous time or in not doing the work and having the next shift left in a lurch

pt abuse and drug use are in there but would not rate at the top of the list

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Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.
NOT wearing make up? I've heard it all now. :rolleyes:

Not fired but I actually still have the eval writeup. I got this comment about how much "nicer" I looked in it. I believe that Fab4fan also, got something written on an eval about not wearing makeup.

For some reason they had trouble keeping staff. Said manager got canned 6 monthes later....but she made my life a bit miserable for a bit.

Not to mention bad skin from the makeup.

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Specializes in Inpatient Acute Rehab.

1. Drug abuse/drug theft

2. Patient abuse

3. Call ins (excessive)

4. poor attitude

5. Pre-pouring of meds

6. Pre-charting

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1. Drug abuse/drug theft

2. Patient abuse

3. Call ins (excessive)

4. poor attitude

5. Pre-pouring of meds

6. Pre-charting

WHen I was in nursing school a student got kicked out for stealing a prescription pad the doctor had pre signed and wrote her pain medicine and xanax orders. Then recently where I work they got rid of a nurse for giving bedtime meds at five o'clock, but signing the narc book for nin o'clock and calling 911 for herself so she could go home

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