Hospital will not hire smokers

Nurses Professionalism

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Smoke is an irritant, not an allergy. Anyway, I'm all for a smoke-free facility and not hiring smokers. It seems hypocritical for a nurse to be encouraging someone to quit smoking and teach the dangers of smoking while the nurse has a pack of Marlboros in her purse. From a pt standpoint, if someone is coming in during an asthma flare up and their ER nurse/tech/doc has that clinging to their scrubs it can exacerbate the asthma even worse. I don't have any respiratory problems but do get massive headaches after dealing with smoking pts, just being in the room with them for the 10 minutes I'm doing their intake will set off my headache and it lasts all day; I can't imagine being sick and having that added because of my "health"care provider covered in smoke. Current smoking employees should be encouraged and motivated to quit smoking. I've never smoked so I can't imagine how hard it is to quit, but watching my grandmother suffer a near-fatal heart attack when I was 13 was all I needed to never start it.

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If it's all about the smell, what about e-cigs? Why are those banned too?

They are not testing your clothes for potential irritating smoke odors; they are testing your urine for nicotene. If the smell is where the issue lies, why not just require everyone to be smoke-odor free? Not as objective or easy to test, sure, but certainly more fair to those who choose to smoke in their off time and can do so without smelling like a smoke stack.

And as to the setting an example baloney (balogna?), no. Just no.

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Specializes in FNP, ONP.

Starting July 2015 this hospital will no longer hire smokers. Thoughts ???

My thought is either quit smoking or work someplace else. As we well know, there is no shortage of qualified nurses out there in most places, so be competitive or get left behind. No brainer (if not poisoning yourself and everyone around you wasn't enough motivation to convince you).

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.
If it's all about the smell, what about e-cigs? Why are those banned too?

They are not testing your clothes for potential irritating smoke odors; they are testing your urine for nicotene. If the smell is where the issue lies, why not just require everyone to be smoke-odor free? Not as objective or easy to test, sure, but certainly more fair to those who choose to smoke in their off time and can do so without smelling like a smoke stack.

And as to the setting an example baloney (balogna?), no. Just no.

Because it's not just about the smoke. It's about the fact that smokers increase insurance costs.

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Specializes in Oncology.
Great points, and I do agree with you. Do you think it is possible for a nurse to smoke and not smell of smoke? I've ran into some nurses who were pretty good with hiding the smell and others not so much. According to this article, employees who already work at the hospital will still have their jobs, do you think they should be fired too? What is the point of having this new policy if there are still smokers at the facility, that will "find new places to smoke" and that will still reek of smoke.

Most people who smoke who don't smell like smoke don't smell because they covered the scent up with something dr. So then I have smoke AND body wash setting off my asthma.

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Specializes in Cardiac.

Where I work has this policy too. When I got my job offer HR told me it was contingent upon me passing a nicotine test.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
Smoking is a behavior; obesity is a body size.

If we are going to exclude obese people as job candidates because they "have a higher rate of illness," then we will need to calculate every candidates risk of illness based on a variety of factors and then use them to determine who will be the lowest risk to employ.

Who wants a society where not only do we give potential employees health "screenings," but we use those results to exclude the candidates with less favorable results? How would you like your employer to use:

your BMI,

your cholesterol,

your FBS,

your BP,

your health history,

your family history,

your genetic risk panel? in deciding whether you are at risk for a "higher rate of illness."

If we are going that far, of course we would need to disciminate against anyone who engages in high risk recreational activities such as riding ATVs, skydiving, skiing, motorcylcing...and anyone who drinks, drives fast, j-walks...

Welcome to institutionalized discrimination.

It's a slippery slope we are on.

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Specializes in Med Surg, Perinatal, Endoscopy, IVF Lab.

I think it's crap. I'm not a smoker, nor have I ever been one. I think they will have lawsuits on their hands. Smoking is a legal activity. If you are going to go down that slippery slope of controlling what your employee does on their private time, you are going to face serious issues. Next they will weigh you in and check your cholesterol, then they will have sniffers to sniff out if you are using perfume or excess perfumed soap in the shower. What about alcohol use? That's not necessarily healthy. Is nobody to have a drop of alcohol anymore. I think it's rediculous and I hope lawsuits ensue. Sure, they can control what you do on their time, but not on yours.

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Specializes in Med Surg, Perinatal, Endoscopy, IVF Lab.

.... Plus, we extoll the dangers of smoking while state by state we are making marajuana legal.... hmmmmm

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.
.... Plus, we extoll the dangers of smoking while state by state we are making marajuana legal.... hmmmmm

There are many other ways to take in marijuana than by smoking it.

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In my area, most healthcare employers won't hire smokers, or are in the process of adopting that rule. I think it's acceptable expectation. The thing that concerns me a bit more is that some of these employers are also FORCING employees to have a flu vaccine by such and such a date per year. We all know that some people don't tolerate these very well.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
In my area, most healthcare employers won't hire smokers, or are in the process of adopting that rule. I think it's acceptable expectation. The thing that concerns me a bit more is that some of these employers are also FORCING employees to have a flu vaccine by such and such a date per year. We all know that some people don't tolerate these very well.
Do you see the dichotomy of your statement?

It's ok to not hire smokers and infringe on their private time...but it's not OK to force vaccinations.

If they can enforce one thing they can enforce another. It's slippery slope.

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