For these purposes, this article will be focusing on the nursing industry. A lot of nursing schools require students to pass drug tests. Why? Well, to begin with, many recreational drugs are illegal. Hence, if the candidate is breaking the law in this way now, who is to say that they won’t be prone to doing something else that is forbidden in the future. The nursing school drug test has to do with ethics and morals. It keeps those seeking employment in the field honest.
Check out our video on testing for medical professionals.
Nursing school testing is typically done during the admissions process. Nursing students are subjected to real-world scenarios while earning their degrees. In other words, the choices that they make could impact a patient if the event took place in real-life. The pupils need to be sharp and ready for anything. When an individual takes an illicit substance, his or her judgment can become altered. Such issues cannot be tolerated in nursing school so that the new professionals are prepared for what lies ahead.
Not to mention, an ideal applicant probably shouldn’t have an addiction to prescription opioids either. If the pupil got through the program, he or she would gain easy access to the pills. In turn, his or her life could be put in danger. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost 450,000 people overdosed and died on opiates across the United States between 1999 and 2018. Of course, it is 2020, and that means the number is probably higher now. So, if nothing else, the nursing school drug test may put the medication’s just out of an addict’s reach.
Nursing School Drug Testing Is Good For Patients, Employers, And Nurses Too
Nurses are ordinary people, and they make mistakes just like all other humans. If addiction is part of the equation, the professionals could steal opiates from their patients, just trying to get their next fix. That only causes those seeking medical care pain. Plus, it may come back to bite the caregiver in the long run. Should the injured or sick party catch wind of the situation, the nurse could find themselves entangled in a lawsuit.
Such legal action can ruin one’s reputation and destroy their career. Plus, it can leave the nurse’s bank account quite empty too. Heck, if the patient happens to see the situation go down from the get-go, he or she may choose to press charges against the medical professional, meaning that jail time might enter the picture as well. With all of these examples, it is easy to understand why companies, particularly hospitals and doctors’ offices, must drug test.
