Nurses smoking e cigs at the station?

[richardgecko]

I've been seeing this a lot lately and I think it's unprofessional. Even saw a pregnant nurse doing it. Are nurses allowed to use them in your facility?

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

Are you kidding me??! How can they get away with that?

[richardgecko]

In front of the charge nurse, that's how

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Even saw a pregnant nurse doing it.

At least the unborn baby is not being exposed to real carcinogenic cigarette smoke by the nurse.

One of my former coworkers, a very pregnant woman, used to go on hourly smoke breaks. But instead of vapor ecigs, she was smoking real Marlboro ciggies. When an extremely addicted pregnant woman who won't quit has the choice between ecigs and real cigarettes, I think the ecigs are the lesser of the two evils due to the lack of carcinogenic smoke. After all, the e-cig user is far less likely to give birth to a low birth weight infant.

And as someone who grew up in the smoke-filled home of two nicotine-addicted parents, I would have much rather dealt with e-cig vapor instead of nasty secondhand smoke any day.

Meanwhile, I do think that using ecigs at the nurses station is unprofessional. Nurses at my workplace once used them out in the open until rules forbidding them were written into official policy this year.

[T-Bird78]

We have a no smoking policy at work, for staff and for pts (non-smoking campus) so you can imagine my surprise when a nurse lit up an e-cig IN THE BREAK ROOM and proceeded to puff away. I questioned her on it and she said "It's just water vapor so it's fine." Did I mention we work in an asthma clinic? Yeah, just what our asthmatic pts need, nurses vaping in the clinic.

[BSNbeauty, BSN, RN]

Very unprofessional

[Libby1987]

I'm trying to envision nurses or anyone smoking e-cigs at the nurses' station and it just comes out so outrageous.

[vanilla bean]

My facility is non-smoking on the property and E-cigs are included in that policy. This applies to staff, patients, and visitors alike.

[PacoUSA, BSN, RN]

I used to work with a nurse who vaped at the nurses station. She would be discreet tho, but either way I thought it was totally ghetto. While I applaud her decision to quit smoking cigarettes, I disagree that it was appropriate to vape around others.

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

There's this illusion that it is "water vapor" which is such a crock. It is akin to lighting a glade plug in up and inhaling it.

There is not much of a difference between second hand smoke smell, and fake vanilla/cola/strawberry smell. Gross.

In a lot of company policies, there's a part about offensive smells (ie: strong perfume, that kind of thing.) Vaping, in my opinion, would fall under the very offensive smell list.

It may not be lighting up a butt, but it is blowing a bunch of vapors around the area that stink.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

Where on earth do you live where this is allowed? No way would it be permitted anywhere I've ever worked.

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

No tobacco products at all allowed in my hospital for patients, visitors, or staff.