A fellow coworker was terminated last week. I was working alongside him that night, but didn't see it actually happen. My guess, and from what I have "unofficially" heard, is that he refused to take a random drug test. Honestly, that is the only thing I can even think of that would be dealth with in that manner in the middle of the night!
I really liked this nurse, and was under the impression that he was having some personal problems. I also know that other nurses on the floor did not like this person, and some had actually interviewed for his job as charge nurse (he was hired from the outside less than a year ago). He was always very nice and respectful of me, and always helped me when I needed it.
Anyway, I am having a hard time with this. This person did not appear to be impaired to me. Of course, that doesn't mean that he wasn't. So, if he was impaired on the job and refused the test, it was his own doing and maybe he can get some help for this. But I feel awful that I didn't notice and maybe could have done something (?) to prevent it. That means that my assessment skills are not so great
On the other hand, it's pretty awful if he wasn't impaired and was forced out - for whatever reason.
For now I'm just trying to sort out my feelings. I have thought about trying to contact this person but don't really think that's a good idea. I also think I better keep quiet about this at work.
