Stopping patients smoking

[Rehabme]

Hi All

Has anyone been able to stop patients smoking whilst an inpatient on a Rehab Ward? The push there wheelchairs out the front. Usually the Amputee patients who have lost their leg because of smoking.

Patients dont want to follow the rules and we are powerless to enforce them.

Any ideas

Help

[psu_213, BSN, RN]

Simply put, if the public is paying for someone's hospital bill, then the public should decide what health habits the patient is subject to (like limiting soft drink sizes).

I'm not a big fan of slippery slope arguments, but this has the potential to be a sippery slope issue. Would society have the right to ban cigarettes altogether? Could they regulate how much alcohol a person could drink in their own home? What about a regulation of fast food? How much "empty calorie" food someone could buy in a week? After all, it is the public that will pay for the hospital bills for all the negative side effects of such bad lifestyle choices.

As for the OP, you are not going to convince someone to even try to stop smoking unless they are ready, and it seems like these individuals are not ready to commit to giving up the habit.

[sharpeimom]

I have never quite understood the mystique that surrounds smoking. Okay, I get its tremendously addictive capabilities, but the bygone

glamour associated with it? No way.

I had two chain smoking parents, but the were totally different types of smokers. My mom began her lifelong habit as a sixteen-year-old

college freshman, practically lighted one from another, and had her final cigarette about an hour before she fell into a final coma. Would she have done anything at all for her "fix?"

My dad was a bomber pilot in the Air Corps in WWII, when his plane was shot down and he was shipped home, badly injured. In an Army hospital in the opposite end of the country as his wife and family, he received a packet everyday which contained a Hershey bar, cheese or peanut butter crackers, soap leaves, a razor blade, a washcloth, and a pack of cigarettes. Since he didn't smoke, he'd trade them for the Hershey bars and crackers. Then one terrible day, there were no smokers on his ward and he tried a cigarette. He smoked,

but never with the zeal my mom did. A patch might well have worked for him. Maybe.

Two types of smokers but a similar issue. How you had approached my dad would have made all the difference in the eventual outcome.

With my mom, however? To borrow a line from the British TV series Upstairs Downstairs, "'N good luck ter ya then."

This is, I think, one of the very few issues where there is no truly workable solution.

[Biffbradford]

I've had a few patients, who were stuck in bed for a few days, say "You know, I haven't smoked for 4 days, I didn't think it would be this easy." ... yeah right, you know they started right up again when they got out.

[sharpeimom]

To lighten a serious subject, I thought I'd share this. It's a fb post I made on a hometown site. We were remembering stories about a tobacco and models store that was in business for almost 100 years

When I was nine, I decided I was old enough to smoke. When I got my allowance that week, I told my dad about my plan. Instead of just saying no as my mom would have, he pointed out that since I wasn't allowed to light matches yet, I'd have to learn to use a lighter safely. He also said that since I'd be using my very own allowance to buy my cigarettes, I'd have to choose a brand that was different from what either parent smoked. That afternoon, we headed to Jake's and I began practicing lighting my very own lighter. They pronounced me safe to solo and I moved on to choosing a brand. Some "helpful" type suggested British Ovals, which the soldiers and expats in India smoked. Sunday morning I smoked my first cigarette after church. My very helpful dad suggested that despite my hacking and coughing (which he assured me would go away eventually) I smoke that unfiltered beast the entire way down. I didn't quit throwing up until Monday at bedtime and didn't go to school until Wednesday. So much for my brief smoking career!!

[Rehabme]

Thank you for all your considered and well thought out comments and feedback.

Just to let you all know I used all your comments as part of my submission to the hospital executive. This week I have achieved following with your help.

1) New Smoking Assessment on all patients coming through the door.

2) Full support from the medical staff.

3) New smoking area away from the front door of the ward.

4) New patient education material

5) Upgrade of nicotine replacement therapy on our imprest.

6) a team of rehab nurses motivated to promote health and make a difference

On behalf of all Rehab Nurses in Melbourne Australia

Thank you