[Bonaparte]

LOL! And we haven't even gotten to the financial consequences for the hospitals and (if publicly traded) their shareholders, when these incidents spin out of control. They can and have mushroomed into huge settlements and awards at trial. And yet, year after year, the unions and PR flaks like Apple will coddle and cover up for these so-called "impaired nurses" who are really nothing but common criminals. Hospitals are very dangerous places -- until you let staff know that you're more dangerous than they are.

[Judith Anne]

"...until you let the staff know you're more dangerous than they are..."

In addition to signing off narcotics by two nurses counting them at the beginning and ending of all three shifts, in our facility if there is a discrepancy, the nurse on whose shift it occurred does NOT leave the hospital until it's found. Any nurse suspected of ANY narcotics pilfering can, in our facility, be held by security until the police arrive. Even one pill, one dose. A urine and blood test can be demanded, and must be given or the nurse is immediately fired, on the spot. So in addition to his/her problems with the law, they have no job and an extremely bad reference.

In our community, no nurses that I have ever heard of have been involved in narcotics, but I do know of two doctors and an EMT.

Any nurse who would say such a thing to you does not deserve the title. That's cruel and unthinkable.