Quote:
Originally Posted by PearlsNLace
Gemme, you have a PM, per your request.
To the thread, I apologize for the derail.
Back on topic:
I have worked in the kind of jobs you just dont want to see an employee impaired with. And yet, I have seen things happen poorly, because of impairment from drugs we DO accept.
Ive seen patients get neglected due to nurses taking excessive smoke breaks.
Ive seen patients get unnecessarily poked repetitively by IV nurses who have had so much coffee their hands shake to much to get the needle in right.
Ive seen patients get snapped at because the nurse was tired from a sugar crash, or they are jonesing for the next cigg, or they have not had thier cup of coffee yet.
We certainly dont test for caffiene, nicotine, or even A1c levels for surgical doctors. But who wants a doc to be impatient with THEM during surgery, just because they need a cigg, or even a twinkie?
In my experience with these more mild responses is that the result was targeted - limits were put on breaks, education increased on patient right to be treated with dignity, ext and that this treated the problem the substance was causing, wich CAN be fixable. When the drug is socially acceptable, the problems are treated differently. The focus becomes the job performance, not the substance.
It just makes sense to me that less accepted drugs could be delt with in the same way.
|
Wow, what a great post and with it, points.
I haven't read the thread, but just saw this first post, so please forgive me if I am repeating things already pointed out, but recently CPS here in TX decided that it would start testing a certain set of caseworkers because we are essentially deemed a child placing agency, because we do license foster homes, so law requires drug testing for those workers.
This is problematic to me not because I advocate for drug usage in the workplace, and certainly not when one is responsible, as a caseworker is, for making decisions impacting lives, as well as driving around children, parents, and other caseworkers in cars on a daily basis, but because we, as an agency, who drug test clients on an hour by hour basis, know quite well that drug tests are often flawed and do not catch dysfunctional and harmful usage unless it is really truly chronic (which would be evident without the drug test), except of course when it comes to marijuana. Marijuana, even slight usage, harmless usage, I would say, shows up regardless and for quite awhile, and so the test doesn't, in my opinion, really help any agency address what might be quite bigger issues with impairment than just "illegal" drug use, and really doesn't help identify the more severe types of illegal drug use, say cocaine use (because it leaves the system rather fast, and so coke users can beat drug tests pretty easy, same goes for other drugs of this sort).
I would also like to add that drug tests are so fallible because of the things you mentioned above that might impair worker functioning, and things that are perfectly legal. And I'd also like to throw in to that mix the legal prescribed treatments of painkillers, anxiety meds, and certain psychotropics. There are folks, who under doctor's orders, take a great deal of impairing "drugs" and so are much more likely than the occasional pot smoker to wreck a car (with a kid in it), and are also much more likely to be impaired in the other job responsibilities they have. Also, such issues like functional alcoholism, as even just a hangover can impact one's day. Caseworkers, too, are also very likely to be on the job after a 14 hour day and very little sleep, and add to that further (because it's so common an equation) to be working under those conditions when they are sick. So many get so swamped and are quite dedicated, so they head out in cars (more than 60% of the job is travel, transporting kids) on cold and cough medicines, and with all the symptoms, even severe, of cold, flu, etc (CPS management often has to "force" people to take sick days, believe it or not).
I actually would rather trust the rested and organized caseworker who tokes a bit here and there on weekends and in the privacy of their non-work realms, than the over anxious, freaked out, constantly stressed, never rested caseworker who is making life decisions every day, and, well, has the great potential to fuck up an awful lot, truly damaging people's lives. But the drug test will indicate marijuana more so than it will ever detect impairment that may seem functional on the surface but truly is impairment and thus brings with that a risk of harm in performing the job, and as such, in positions like casework or nursing, can possibly greatly harm other people.