Smoking

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I think we all know smoking is bad for us. Even if we do it, but should any place be able to not hire a smoker? I understand no smoke breaks and no smoking on the grounds. But you can't work here because you smoke at home! What do you think?

i haven't heard of a hospital ever doing this. but i have heard of some companies that require that you are a nonsmoker. they check your blood before hire. nicotine stays in your blood for up to a year. most companies that i know that do this it is because insurance costs are much higher for smokers. i don't see the sense in doing this as long as you pass along the extra cost to the smokers. no need to not hirer someone because they are a smoker.

on the other side though. there has been research done that shows there is a corralation between smokers and more sick calls. just a thought.

Specializes in Obstetrics, M/S, Psych.
Originally posted by CougRN

nicotine stays in your blood for up to a year.

Is this what you meant by that statement? I did a google and found this article. I hadn't realized this about the nicotene binding sites, though, it is apparently old news. Amazing, isn't it?

http://www.lungusa.org/press/medical/mednicbinding.html

Nicotine Binding Sites In Blood May Give Clues To High Relapse Rate In Ex-Smokers

September 30, 2003

March 13, 1996

NEW YORK ó A new study published by the American Lung Association may help explain why smokers who quit often have such a difficult time kicking the habit during their first year.

Researchers in France found that smokers had twice as many nicotine binding sites on white blood cells compared with non-smokers. They also had a unique type of binding site which has a very high affinity for binding nicotine.

People who had stopped smoking for less than a year had nicotine binding site patterns that were similar to those of smokers, while people who had quit for more than a year had binding site patterns that were similar to those of non-smokers.

The nicotine binding sites, or receptors, are similar to a lock that nicotine fits into like a key, and may play a role in nicotine addiction, said James Snapper, M.D., president of the American Lung Association of Tennessee and Professor of Medicine at in Nashville.

Scientists have long known that there are specific nicotine receptors in the brain, he explained. The French researchers speculate that the nicotine binding sites on the white blood cells they studied are similar to such sites in the brain.

They note that the persistence of a high number of nicotine binding sites in the first year after a person quits smoking corresponds to the very high rate of relapse in smoking seen during that time.

The study appears in the March issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, published by the American Lung Association.

An estimated 46 million Americans smoke, and smoking-related diseases claim the lives of an estimated 419,000 Americans each year. Although 70% of smokers want to stop smoking and 34% attempt to quit each year, only 2.5% succeed.

The high rate of relapse is a consequence of nicotine dependence. "The more we understand nicotine addiction, the better we can understand how to help people who want to stop smoking," Dr. Snapper said. Currently, most smoking cessation drug therapies use nicotine itself, in a patch or gum, he said. "If further research shows that these nicotine binding receptors are indeed critical to nicotine addiction, scientists might be able to develop smoking cessation therapies that use agents other than nicotine to block the receptors."

The French researchers tried to find out more about nicotine's effect on the brain by studying nicotine binding receptors found on white blood cells known as granulocytes. Their study included 30 people: 10 nonsmokers, 10 smokers and 10 ex-smokers ó five who had stopped smoking for less than one year, and five who had stopped smoking for more than a year.

Originally posted by sbic56

Is this what you meant by that statement? I did a google and found this article. I hadn't realized this about the nicotene binding sites, though, it is apparently old news. Amazing, isn't it?

Actually, what i meant was that if your employer wants to test for nicotine it stays in your system for 1 year. So it's hard to fool them if they test for it. You can't just quit smoking for a short time. It will be there for a year.

Specializes in Obstetrics, M/S, Psych.
Originally posted by CougRN

Originally posted by sbic56

Is this what you meant by that statement? I did a google and found this article. I hadn't realized this about the nicotene binding sites, though, it is apparently old news. Amazing, isn't it?

Actually, what i meant was that if your employer wants to test for nicotine it stays in your system for 1 year. So it's hard to fool them if they test for it. You can't just quit smoking for a short time. It will be there for a year.

Wow. A year? That is unbelievable. Even more unbelievable that an employer would use these results to determine eligibility for employment. Could easily be used as an excuse to terminate an employee for a host of reasons. Add this to the list of reasons healthcare workers don't stay in the field. What other professions are such punitive measures inflicted upon? Ridiculous.

Originally posted by gwenith

Comedian Steve Martin is reputed to be a rabid anti-smoker and is credited with one of the best come back lines I have ever heard.

When asked at dinner if he minded if someone smoked he replied "No do you mind if I f*rt!"

Humour can be another way of confronting a problem without triggering either resistance or strong responses.

LOL...I have used that one myself....I thought it was a great come back too.

Originally posted by CougRN

Originally posted by sbic56

Is this what you meant by that statement? I did a google and found this article. I hadn't realized this about the nicotene binding sites, though, it is apparently old news. Amazing, isn't it?

Actually, what i meant was that if your employer wants to test for nicotine it stays in your system for 1 year. So it's hard to fool them if they test for it. You can't just quit smoking for a short time. It will be there for a year.

I have never really heard of a company actually testing for nicotine in the blood, what would they do with a nonsmoker who dips or chews tobacco? They dont smoke but yet they have high blood levels of nicotine. Just a thought.

Allergic to the adhesive in the patch. Scratch it right off every time. Gum eats holes in my tongue. Ditto for the lozenge. The spray is essentially nicotine in a pepper spray to put in your nose (which I'm sure is why they tell you not to drive for 5 minutes after squirting it in there!) Yeowch!!! Can't function for 15 minutes after that! Zyban makes me nearly homicidal. NEXT????

Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.
Originally posted by babs_rn

Allergic to the adhesive in the patch. Scratch it right off every time. Gum eats holes in my tongue. Ditto for the lozenge. The spray is essentially nicotine in a pepper spray to put in your nose (which I'm sure is why they tell you not to drive for 5 minutes after squirting it in there!) Yeowch!!! Can't function for 15 minutes after that! Zyban makes me nearly homicidal. NEXT????

Amazing you can smoke, but are so sensitive to stuff that can help you.

You have every reason to smoke, you're obviously not ready.

I say we just lock you in a padded cell with unlimited access to all the food you can eat for a week and make you go cold turkey. Then we lock you in a controlled environment, take the weight off and get you training for the Disney Marathon in January in Orlando!

Tough, but it's the only way for you cold turkey.

:)

LOL

Originally posted by nurs4kids

oh, but I CAN compare the two.

You have to eat, but you do NOT have to eat the donuts. Overeating kills people. Obesity is a known to increase cancer risks. Obesity reduces your life expectancy. Obesity increases the insurance premiums for healthy people.

just calling a spade a spade. Let's quit the selective attacking. If it ain't healthy, it ain't healthy whether it's something I do or whether it's something someone else does!

AMEN!! Well said!! We ALL have things to improve upon. I find it offensive when someone who weighs 300 lbs wears a skin tight outfit that makes them look like a sausage. But that's their right! (Please, 300 lb people don't get mad - I have many overweight friends and I could stand to lose a few pounds myself! Just trying to make a point here.) It offends my eyes but it's not my place to notify the person or to expect them to change to meet my expectations. The consequences of their donut intake does not affect me. Just as my choices do not affect them. I used to smoke and was very conscious of not smoking around non-smokers. I also brushed my teeth after a "smoke" and took care to not smoke in confined areas. If more people would spend their time concentrating on their own shortcomings instead of focusing on the flaws of others, the world would be a much better place. Take your own moral inventory and I'll take care of mine, thank you very much.

"Take your own moral inventory and I'll take care of mine, thank you very much."

Well said, StillCrazy, well said.

Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.
Originally posted by stillcrazy

AMEN!! Well said!! We ALL have things to improve upon. I find it offensive when someone who weighs 300 lbs wears a skin tight outfit that makes them look like a sausage. But that's their right! (Please, 300 lb people don't get mad - I have many overweight friends and I could stand to lose a few pounds myself! Just trying to make a point here.) It offends my eyes but it's not my place to notify the person or to expect them to change to meet my expectations. The consequences of their donut intake does not affect me. Just as my choices do not affect them. I used to smoke and was very conscious of not smoking around non-smokers. I also brushed my teeth after a "smoke" and took care to not smoke in confined areas. If more people would spend their time concentrating on their own shortcomings instead of focusing on the flaws of others, the world would be a much better place. Take your own moral inventory and I'll take care of mine, thank you very much.

I have quite a big moral inventory to take of myself and have no right talking.

But I will have to say the ill health of the nation, affects of all in the billions and billions of dollars in health care.

As I've said in the infamous obesity thread. How do we promote wellness, without being judgemental and preachy? Because it is everybody's business that we stay healthy.

Again, I have enough of my own problems, I'm addicted to carbs, I drink too much coffee, work nights and have horrible sleeping patterns, etc., etc............

Smoking costs our society billions and billions. Do we quietly mind our own business and continue to pay the costs in high insurance premiums and taxes?

So while I agree, I also disagree.

Whats next is a society I personally no longer wish to belong to!. We are becoming a sheep like nation. afraid to go against the majority, afraid of being politically incorrect, afraid of everything. If you are truly afraid of employers being able to discriminate against future employees because of what they do in the privacy of their own home then what does the future hold for any of us.

+ Add a Comment