Non-Smoking Hospitals

[katy_kenemy]

My hospital recently went non-smoking. If a pt really wants to smoke, we are supposed to let them go AMA. Well, some of the nurses have been letting them go out to the parking lot and turning a blind eye. Guess what. A pt went out to smoke, while he was out there he drank some alcohol, came back to his room, aspirated and died. I thought I would post this so maybe it would prevent other deaths. I am a little shaken up about it, to be honest.

[Ayvah, RN]

My hospital went smoke-free last year. Employee health offered a great deal of resources to quit smoking. They had informational sessions and greatly reduced prices for quitting-smoking-aids as well as group support sessions. A great deal of people signed up; that was the final push they needed to take the steps to quit.

You can now breathe in the stairwell that used to lead to the smoker's hut. Noticeably less people give off the smoke smell too. We have had very little outcry or backlash from the move to be smoke-free. In fact, there have been many positive comments, even from smokers.

It was a very positive experience for my hospital. Patients who would wish to smoke sign an AMA form and do come back to the hospital when they are done.