The Case of the Nurse and the 'Stolen' Scrubs
When I was a little girl—maybe no more than four years old—I took a twisty-tie out of my grandmother's kitchen drawer without asking, put it in my pocket, and took it home with me.
Later that afternoon, my mother asked me where I'd gotten it. I told her. She told me that was called stealing. And immediately I was on the phone, apologizing to my grandmother for taking something that didn't belong to me.
The infraction was minor. Some might say my mother overreacted. But the lesson stuck. I can still remember the hot feeling of shame that wrapped around my neck as I admitted the truth. And I never again took anything that wasn't mine.
The case of a little girl taking a twisty-tie out of her grandmother's kitchen drawer might seem as silly and insignificant as that of a nursing student taking a pair of scrubs home with her when she wasn't supposed to.
The scrubs in question were taken by Heather Stickney, a 30-year-old nursing student at New Hampshire Technical Institute in Concord, NH. According to a report in the Concord Monitor, Stickney has been suspended from the school's nursing program after she took home scrubs that she'd worn during a clinical rotation at Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, NH.
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Comments are moderated. Please be patient.
Patricia Gonzales (1/3/2013 at 12:04 PM)
I have worked in the academic setting for 18yrs. Every year at the end of senior residency, multiple items turn up "missing", even a hard drive from a hospital computer. Can we prosecute them as well, please.
Terri (12/29/2012 at 7:14 PM)
It simply boils down to a matter of trust. She stole the scrubs and it is a tell all to her overall character.
Wendy (12/22/2012 at 8:31 AM)
Cathy, you are absolutely right. This student willfully stole items from the hospital. This absolutely does speak to the character of this individual.