Nurses Smoking

rags · May 5, 2008

Rags,
I am soooo sorry!!!! I mistook you for writing the post that you were only quoting on page 13, but it was not you it was Hauseman. I am sure you have plenty of compassion, and I am so sorry for confusing you with the other poster.

No problem. I glad we were able to clear it up. :yeah:

GallopinGal48 · May 15, 2008

I don't look down on nurses who smoke. I do have concern that they will spend their last years wheezing around their houses, at the end of a long, long, oxygen tube. You can't tell nurses who smoke anything they don't already know. It's a coping strategy for them, not a good choice, but THEIR choice.

slippery_seal · Oct 17, 2008

How can nurses tell their patients the importance of not smoking or quitting when they themselves are smoking!! It decreases a nurses credibility when they walk into a patients room and do teaching on the importance of not smoking when they reek of cigarette smoke.

lpnflorida, LPN · Oct 17, 2008

I disagree, I do smoke. I do not advocate it at all. Yes, I have tried quitting. What I bring to the patient, it my ability to say, Yes, I do know how hard it is quit. These are the things I have tried when I wanted to quit. These were the things the were most helpful to me. These were the traps which sucked me back in. Believe me, they do listen as number one I am not judging them. I recognize the disease of addiction. I know what it is to walk in their shoes.

Ps. I carry febreeze fabric softner in my purse to freshen my clothing so that the smell of smoke is not overwhelming to those around me.

I am well aware of bad the whole thing is. Addiction , is addiction, and we always strive to successfully quit.

RN1982 · Oct 17, 2008

OMG, here we go. Why can we just not be judgemental? Are you going to say the same thing about the obese nurse? How can an obese nurse educate a patient about following a diabetic diet? Give me a break. We all have our flaws and nobody is perfect.

queenjean · Oct 17, 2008

You created a profile to ask these two charged questions? Are you trying to stir the pot, are you bored? Is school on break? Nothing on TV?

You could say the same about nurses who are overweight, who eat fast food, who smoke pot, who don't go see their doc every year for an annual, who maybe don't take meds they should, etc etc.

Nursing is made up of people. We aren't angels, we aren't perfect. We already have a nursing shortage--what would it be like if everyone had to have perfect care of their mental, physical and emotional health to even qualify to maintain their nursing license?

We have this little thing called free will. Just because someone smokes (or overeats, or smokes pot, or doesn't exercise) doesn't mean that they can't educate people on the risks of such behavior. Educating the pt and then letting them decide of their own free will is how it works. We aren't angels, robots, or the epitome of moral character. We're just people.

I suspect this isn't a real question. I don't know why I'm feeding a troll. I guess I'm just hoping that it *is* a sincere question.

NurseLoveJoy88, ASN, RN · Oct 17, 2008

I totally agree with queenjean.... We are people just like our pts. What happen to the old rule, "do as I say not as I do." However, it is nice to have nurses being a role model for the pt at time, but that doesn't always happen. We shouldn't be discussing us anyway. Its all about the pt. We just need to educate them, and don't judge them. Now about the smoking thing.... So what if a nurse smokes as she doesn't reak... There is a girl in my class who smokes, and I can really spell it, I just hope she changes that before she becomes a nurse.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Oct 17, 2008

I also smoke and hey, I do not judge them. I ask them about their smoking status, inform them of resources available if they wish to quit and that is it. I do not belong to them, I am not Wonder Woman, Supergirl or Captain America Nurse. I also eat junk food twice a week and curse like a sailor when I am angry. I asked several people if I smell like smoke and they say no, except for when I first came from smoking it (and I use FreeBreeze, also).

When will people know that nurses are human and have the same frailties as anyone else?

rn-jane · Oct 17, 2008

I don't smoke but that does not make me a better advocate than a nurse who does. I am slightly overweight so does that make giving teaching to my heart patients about heart disease less valid just because I'm not 120 lbs? I hope not. I'm educated in my expertise but maybe it makes me a little more human in the eyes of my patient. I give them the facts, educational materials and support groups and it is up to them to take it or leave it.

HonestRN · Oct 17, 2008

I don't get the whole smoking issue as an issue at all. Current research shows being overweight or obese as a bigger (preventable) health risk than smoking. Obesity is linked to cancer, fatty liver, cardiovascular disease, lung problems, joint issues, decreased cognitive function, just to mention a few.

That being said. I agree with Michigan RN, how can an obese nurse teach good dietary habits?

Oh, and one last thing....I see far more overweight/obese nurses than smoking ones.

pinksugar · Oct 17, 2008

Meh, who cares? Nurses can do whatever they want, just like everyone else. I personally cannot stand smoking, but I get so fed up with this idea that nurses are supposed to be beacons of health perfection for our patients' benefit. Our worlds do not revolve around our patients and we don't need to change our lifestyle habits to seem more credible to patients.

If the nurse does smoking teaching and the patient doesn't want to follow her/his advice because she/he reeks of cigarette smoke, then oh well. That is that patient's personal problem.

JB2007, ASN, RN · Oct 17, 2008

Speaking as an RN who has quit smoking 6 weeks ago I feel ike I can ask this, what gives you the right to judge what others do? I am a very good nurse and I was a very good nurse when I smoked. I will also say that I was a better nurse when I smoked than my catty co-workers that would sit around and gossip about us awful smokers. OMG the amount of time they spent c/o how bad we smelled and how many breaks we took, well add that up and I bet it adds up to more time than my one 20 min break that I took as a smoker.

A nurse that smokes can give a pt the facts about quitting smoking from a more personal view and sometimes it helps a pt. to know that the nurse knows what they are going through. That may open the doors for a more honest conversation on the pts part about their problems in the past that may have pervented them from quitting. I know that it was easier for me to talk to former smokers and current smokers about how I was feeling in the early stages of my quit.