Nurses and other healthcare staff smoking alongside patients!?!

[SweetPEI]

I Just have a rant...

I am sick and tired of having to be bombarded with the scent of smoke in the psychiatric facility I currently work at. Where used to work, granted it was a med-psych unit and not an entire facility, no smoking was allowed... period. Not by the patients and definitely not by the staff. In fact, if staff member did smoke, they had to walk to a designated unsheltered area that was about 200 feet away from the building. Patients got the patch, but nothing more.

Now I work in a behavioral health hospital and which treats children all the way to the geriatric population. Everyone besides those on the child/adolescent units are allowed to smoke. We don't have designated smoking times and it is really up to staff deiscretion how often and when they let patients smoke in the designated patio areas. My issue is that I am subjected to the smell all the time and on one unit there is a backdraft that they say they are working on and I literally feel like I'm smoking.

My charge nurse got upset with me one day because we had a patient with severe muscular dystrophy who would have had a hard time holding her cigarette on her own. The charge asked me to sit out on the patio with her and assist because she feared this patient would burn herself. I respectfully refused. She was surprised, especially because I am usually very helpful. I simply told her that it was not part of my job description to cause harm to my lungs, especially considering I have asthma, just because a patient needed to smoke. I don't understand why this patient could not have had a doctors order for a nicotine patch when smoking was not something she could do without the assistance of staff. She couldn't argue with me and she didn't.

Then the other problem is that at least 60-70% of all the nurses in the facility smoke. This does NOT include other healthcare staff. I think this is ridiculous. Don't get me wrong, there are many bad vices we all have that really shouldn't be since we are in the business of health promotion, but to me smoking really stands out because it affects everyone around you. It is quite unfair that I have to be prepared to use my pump at work because of the smoking. My asthma is usually not that bad and it only really affects me during spring time. I am in the process of filing a complaint because at the end of the day as I see it, If i do get an asthma attack related to the smoking that is an on the job injury...

That's my rant...

[Ruas61, BSN, RN]

I am not really trying to **** you off.

I just have a different take on it.

I wish you good luck with it,

I am amazed that a place allows smoking in the fashion you describe.

[SweetPEI]

Considering I began my post with the word "rant" um, that is exactly what I did... Rant!! That is what allnurses is about. Furthermore, I have the right to complain and I also have the right to be able to breathe. I also have the right to refuse to sit with someone and hold their cigarette while they smoke. I also have the right when I sit at the nurses station, which is never near any smoking patio to not smell smoke, except, of course, majority of my co-workers smoke. that is my rant.

[GitanoRN, BSN, MSN, RN]

wait for it.....

[Ruas61, BSN, RN]

Wait for what? Am I going to get lynched?

[SweetPEI]

unquestionably, this is not only jeopardizing the patients health but the non-smoker staff. needless to say, this is absurd for the simply reason that someone who probably doesn't smoke, has to look after the patients of the nurse that is out on a cigarette break, and to make matters worse the staff encourages patients to smoke in order to get a smoke break absolutely ridiculous. in addition, your facility is correct smoking is a privilege, a privilege to damage ones health and those around them. therefore, for this reason alone if you're a non-smoker you shouldn't seek employment at this facility.

i hear you gitanorn, however when i was interviewed, hired and oriented there was no evidence this happened. they were and still renovating so some of the units were not accessible during our tour. however, one of the reasons i do like this place is because it is a facility that cater to almost every category of psych.

and no, lol hopefully there is nothing to wait for

[SweetPEI]

I faced a similar problem when I worked at an urban hospital's psych floor about ten years ago. They started with q 1 hour smoking for the patients, indoors, usually, but not always, supervised by staff who smoked. Then they got a special air cleaner that just pushed the dirty air above the drop-ceiling. Then they made all smoking outdoors, but some of the non-smokers like myself rebelled because of the risk of patients eloping. Finally, there was a month or so transition where smoking was stopped, and miraculously the sky did NOT fall. I always thought that the biggest problem wasn't smoking or not smoking, but patient A sees patient B smoking and wants to know why they can't, too. Once the smoking ban was set, there really wasn't a problem.

It disturbs me sometimes that some nurses get caught up in a martyrdom syndrome that makes them think that they are obligated to sacrifice their own health to be a good nurse. So, no, I don't think you are "rabid" about the issue.

I currently work in another psych facility that has a strict no smoking policy. And there is no problem. I will absolutely take your additional advice. And just so others are clear, I am in no way trying to be judgmental because Lord knows there are other vices besides smoking that make nurses look like hypocrites for promoting healthcare to thier patients and I definitely have some of my own. My problem with smoking is the fact that I get the effects of it even though I am not actively partaking in the acitvity of smoking.

[rn/writer, RN]

If you can find another job or increase hours at another job you already have, that seems to be the solution with the least wear and tear for all concerned.

I worked psych for years and smoking was a BIG factor for the adult patients. We told the adolescents who smoked that they were underage and that was that. No smoking. Some got the patch or gum, but that was as far as we went.

The adults were another matter. I think the docs viewed smoking as a mild tranquilizer for which they didn't have to take responsibility, and they feared absolute mutiny on top of all the other issues if they tried to take that away. So, the adult units smelled awful to non-smokers and the staff members who indulged were only too happy to take folks down to the "smoking room," where they could get their own fix along with the patients.

Eventually, smoking was cut back, and, for all I know, it may now be a thing of the past. But it sounds like your facility is in the early stages of this adaptation.

In your case, you have more than a simple dislike of the smell of smoking. You have an actual health issue. While you can fight the powers that be for your right to avoid exposure to the hazards of smoke, why put yourself in that position? They're happy with--or at least tolerant of--the current culture, so you're probably going to be looked at as the problem child. Again, why do that to yourself. This kind of ongoing stress has to be as noxious in some ways as the smoke.

Swimming upstream should be reserved for situations that truly have you trapped. If your job prospects were dismal or you had someone in administration in your corner or it was against state law to allow the patients to smoke, drawing a line in the sand might be an appropriate action. But it sounds like you are in the minority fighting a battle that no one else is too concerned about.

Cut your losses and choose a workplace that doesn't expose you to fumes and fuming on a regular basis.

[tothepointeLVN, LVN]

I am sick and tired of having to be bombarded with the scent of smoke in the psychiatric facility I currently work at. Where used to work, granted it was a med-psych unit and not an entire facility, no smoking was allowed... period. Not by the patients and definitely not by the staff. In fact, if staff member did smoke, they had to walk to a designated unsheltered area that was about 200 feet away from the building. Patients got the patch, but nothing more.

Not directly aimed at you but I think not allowing psych patients to smoke is unusually cruel. Being in the middle of a psychiatric emergency is not the appropriate time to force a smoking cessation program/patch on them.

[charli_appleRN]

The clients live there 24/7 and you dont. If you're uncomfortable in someone else's home.......leave. Simple as that

[SweetPEI]

The clients live there 24/7 and you dont. If you're uncomfortable in someone else's home.......leave. Simple as that

They also have sex in their home, some do drugs and abuse alcohol in their home we don't allow none of the above and much more. They also can go in and out of their home as they please. They can't do that here, so I'm sorry, but its not that simple. There are many patients who do not smoke who have complained and are encouraged to file grievances with the pt advocate. Using your argument, isn't it their home too?

[tothepointeLVN, LVN]

They also have sex in their home, some do drugs and abuse alcohol in their home we don't allow none of the above and much more. They also can go in and out of their home as they please. They can't do that here, so I'm sorry, but its not that simple. There are many patients who do not smoke who have complained and are encouraged to file grievances with the pt advocate. Using your argument, isn't it their home too?

I've been a psych inpatient in the past. Trust me the last thing I want is my roommate driving me bat crazy because they want a smoke. Trust me they are bad enough when there are Q2h breaks or when they miss one.

It's a lot easier to be a nurse than it is to be a patient especially in a psych facility. Sorry to be staff needs come secondary. It's the patient or their insurance that is paying for the stay. It's not a hotel but you don't have to make a miserable time more miserable.

[SweetPEI]

Basically what I've gathered from those who have responded is that I should find somewhere else to work. I don't believe that is the way to go. I want to stand up for what I believe and because this is not a place that I have to depend on for income, I have nothing to lose. There are other staff members who feel the same way, but have no other options. There are patients who complain all the time, who do not smoke. I want to advocate for myself and them. Again, I understand that smoking is a way to self medicate, especially for my patients. If only they were the only ones doing it, maybe it would be a little bit better, maybe. But when I have to sit next to, collaborate with, and talk to coworkers who reek of it, it becomes even greater of a problem. Besides that problem, every elopement we have had, besides someone busting out a window has been through the smoke patio of EVERY smoking unit except geriatrics. Just a side note. Sigh. if only we could be supportive if each other. Change can occur if enough people want it