recently my hospital, the one that wants to be ahead of any other healthwise in the central valley, has instituted, or will institute a policy of no smoking anywhere not even smoking areas provided to families visiting or patient's choosing to smoke. this sounds so progressive and right but in the back of my mind it is not right to force a life style change on someone, even if you in your program offer up nicotine lozengers or patches which our hospital will. true patients can choose to go to another hospital for treatment and they probably will when this takes effect tomorrow. any thoughts? ! i don't smoke or never have for that matter but i do live in a highly air polluted city so i probably consume a pack a day unwillingly.
smoking in bars is illegal in california, however smoking outside the bar is permitted. not at my hospital ! ! does this sound screwy or what?
oh, and staff are not aloud to smoke on the hospital grounds either!
As for the comment about a ban on SUVs and Hummers why not? But then again, there is no direct link as far as I know between second hand fuel emmissions and lung cancer - though the second hand cigarette smoke has already been proven. [/quote']
I'm not quite sure what you're getting at here, Blee? Are you saying that the increased rates of asthma in Bakersfield are not a direct result of its air pollution? Are you saying that a disproportionate of folks living in my community are obese and diabetic is not a result of poor air quality--intollerable to exercise outdoors in -- caused by people driving wasteful fossil fueled vehicles? ! !
The hospital I work in has a complete smoking ban. People are not even allowed to smoke in their cars if they are on hospital grounds.
I personally think it is a good thing. I think all NHS hospitals are non smoking.
My main placement site has limited smoking shelters for patients/visitors, which were phased out by the national july ban and no smoking on site for staff.
Many of the hospital in washington have adopted a no smoking policy. I think its great but at the mental health institution I work at, almost all the residents smoke. They have don't have a no smoking ban. Sometimes you cannot win.
I think it's great. I fully support the notion of having all public facilities being completely smoke-free. I am glad I live in CA where most indoor smoking is banned but I, too, hate having to walk the gauntlet of smokers standing outside the door.
I also think the mentioned hospital that will impose disciplinary action upon staff who smell of smoke is great.
Personally, I think we need to add tobacco to the list of FDA-controlled substances with no known therapeutic benefits.
The addicts will scream for awhile but we'll all be better off in the long run.
Are you saying that the increased rates of asthma in Bakersfield are not a direct result of its air pollution? Are you saying that a disproportionate of folks living in my community are obese and diabetic is not a result of poor air quality--intollerable to exercise outdoors in -- caused by people driving wasteful fossil fueled vehicles? ! !
Are you serious or are you just being sarcastic? You have to be sarcastic because I can't imagine you are honestly suggesting that obesity and diabetes is indirectly caused by poor air quality.
are you serious or are you just being sarcastic? you have to be sarcastic because i can't imagine you are honestly suggesting that obesity and diabetes is indirectly caused by poor air quality.
oh yes, i am serious. the environment you live in can influence your healthy living habits. and not having good air quality puts a damper on exercise and exercise, my friend, is the most important contriubuting factor to the prevention of diabetes and obesity. ok, poor nutrition, eating too much, family history of diabetes are known factors yes, but not exercising due to asthma is definitely a contributing factor.
The hospital where I worked and the whole network of hospitals under its umbrella went smokeless. I think it is the smartest idea ever and I can't imagine it took so long to institute when I think about it. Hospital employees have to go outside and across the street, off hospital grounds to grab a smoke.
Smoking has been so ingrained in our culture for so long I think we don't stop and think how really bad it is. Now that my hospital has successfully been smoke free for a couple of years, it absolutely seems like the only ethical and obvious decision a hospital should make. IMHO
Specializes in Infection Preventionist/ Occ Health.
My hospital is the last one in the area to go smoke-free. I am against the government interference in the affairs of private citizens. At the same time, the hospitals are all privately owned, and as such the board of directors has the final say about what happens on their property.
I have seen many of my colleagues quit (or at least try to quit) because of the ban. No one who is addicted to nicotine can make it through at 12 hour shift without a cigarette, and walking off of the property means taking a 2 block walk. Mosts people deal with this by using nicotine patches. However, I have seen a few people hiding in the back of the parking structure puffing away furiously; they are willing to risk a fine because they can't wait until they get home to smoke.
I don't know if there's an easy solution to this problem. If the hospitals allow smoking or provide a dedicated area, they are seen as condoning an unhealthy area. That doesn't seem to stop them from serving fried everything in the cafeteria!
this sounds so progressive and right but in the back of my mind it is not right to force a life style change on someone
i'm having trouble connecting the dots between the reluctance of the op to believe that the smoke-free directive is a good thing with the later vehemently anti-suv posts.
Smoke-free hospitals are not a new idea. Our facility went smoke-free probably about 8 years ago. It's been so long I can't remember. Thousands of facilitries throughout the country have gone smoke-free to the point where it's the norm.
Of course, it's the normal for people to ignore it and still smoke in nooks and crannies (patients and families smoke right out front where there are no longer ashtrays).
Its been about a year since our hospital went smoke free. All staff was offered the patch and smoking cessasion (sp) classes. More recently, all of New Mexico went smoke free. No smoking in a public place or within 20 feet of the building. Cant even smoke in the car unless the windows are up. I love it. Should have happend a long time ago.
My main placement site has limited smoking shelters for patients/visitors, which were phased out by the national july ban and no smoking on site for staff.
Same here, I think all NHS hospitals are smoke free
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CaLLaCoDe, BSN, RN
1,174 Posts