Mental Health Acute Wards

[wnoise]

Dear colleagues!

I would like to contact nurses working in Mental Health Acute Wards (all over the world) where smoking is forbidden.

In Spain, smoking in Mental Health Acute Units is allowed by law. I am working in an article about Ethics and smoking.

Thanks a lot for your help in advance,:)

Note: I apologise for my English.

Wnoise

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

This thread has been moved to the Psychiatric Nursing forum. Good luck to you!

[elkpark]

Welcome to allnurses! :balloons:

Over the last several years, many hospitals in the US have gone entirely "smoke-free," including the psychiatric units. Typically, clients are not allowed to smoke at all, but are offered nicotine patches and/or gum to manage cravings and prevent withdrawal while they are hospitalized.

This is definitely the trend in the US, and more and more hospitals will be going in this direction as time goes on. Here are links for a couple of older threads here that discuss smoking in psychiatric settings:

https://allnurses.com/forums/f46/feasibility-non-smoking-policy-psychiatric-hospitals-170247.html

https://allnurses.com/forums/f46/banning-smoking-psychiatric-patients-95644.html

[wnoise]

Dear Elkpark.

Thank you very much for the information and links. It has been an useful information for me.

In Spain, It is banned smoking in health centers, however, It is allowed in Mental Health units. I would like to find international evidence that a non-smoking unit doesn´t increase aggressive behaviours.

Does anybody know laws, acts, protocols to compare with the Spanish law?

Thanks a lot in advance, :)

Wnoise

[elkpark]

I don't know much to help you. I can tell you that the push to go smoke-free (in hospitals) in the US comes from OSHA, the (federal) Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which is concerned with employee safety and working conditions (the idea is to protect hospital workers from seond-hand smoke).

You may be able to find more information (or helpful links) on their website. Here is the main site: http://www.osha.gov/

[DaMale Nurse]

I work in a Mental Health acute care hospital and although there is some discussion about going smoke free our sister hospital attempted this but gave up after a year. Apparently from what I have heard the staff who smoked didn't stop smoking and after a couple really brutal assaults on staff who did smoke they decided that it was not worth the fight to go smoke free.

[inthesky]

as of one year ago.. the mental health unit at the Veteran's hospital has a smoking porch; the patient's love it!

[Ms.RN2005]

I've worked at a Acute Psychiatric Hospital for 7 years. When I first started working there we allowed patients to smoke however about 3 1/2 years ago the hospital went smoke-free. As far as I'm aware there has been no great increase in patient aggression since we made the switch. We provide the patch, the gum and the nicotine inhaler as nicotine replacement therapies. The docs also prescribe Chantix to those patients who are truly interested in quitting. Smoking cessation classes are offered to both staff and patients and staff can get nitcotine gum for free. Even most of our patients on our dually-diagnosed unit (mental illness + substance abuse) have dealt very well with the change to a smoke-free environment. Hope this helps somewhat.

:)

[wnoise]

Dear DaMale Nurse,

Thanks a lot for your information.

Where I work nurses we are not allowed to smoke but patients are allow to smoke. My questions is if it will be possible a not smoking ward without aggressions and brutal assaults! Although, we have a big problem in my unit has not free places for patients like a garden or smoking porch. We just have a special room with a smoke extraction machine. Anyone of you has to suffer this kind of work conditions? Any counsel?

[wnoise]

i would like to have a nice porch in my unit but we haven't, thanks

[wnoise]

thanks a lot, mrrn2005

this information is very useful and hopeful for me. has your hospital experience been published at any article, review… that i could find? :nuke:

[psychmeup]

I work in two different Mental Health Acute inpatient settings. One is completely smoke free and one allows smoking in a designated area, for the time being. There is quite a difference in the feel of the units. The smoke free unit is more focused on their milieu activities and therapies, and the one that allows smoking; the clock is closely watched by the patients. Even patients that isolate and stay in bed are very focused on the smoke breaks. When the smoke breaks went from one hour apart to two, patients got used to it. When it eventually becomes a smoke free environment, patients will use the patches and be healthier for it.