Nurses Who Smoke

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I have one question....... WHY?

I will say this....if they ever came out with a pill or shot and said this will immediately make you quit smoking without any severe side effect or you wouldn't have to suffer withdrawel, I wouldn't be able to roll my sleeve up fast enough or grab a glass a water and say "Give it to me! "

I do enjoy, know it ain't good for me, but do want to quit someday.

AGAIN I say AMEN :rotfl:

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I think I would liken it more to Russian roulette. For every person with lung CA, there's one who smoked unfiltered, tar-laden cigs into his 90's. I also remember from class the largest percentage of lung CA is from unknown etiology. Smoking is number two.

if i remember correctly....and i say IF...didn't george burns smoke and drink and lived into his late 90's or 100? :stone

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I have one question....... WHY?

A few things, one thing I remember from my psych rotation in nursing school re theraputic communication, is NEVER ASK WHY! In re to smoking you already know the answer, addiction is a disease. Do you want someone to say because it feels good, they like it, they are afraid of withdrawl, they have tried and tried to quit but have started again or failed. Nurses are human too. My goodness I would never think of asking an obese person why they ate so much, or ate fatty foods. You have to accept the whole person, bad habits and all.

Some really good points have been made. I eat healthy, while others may not, I dont drink coffee, while others do, I wear a seat-belt, while others may not, I dont gamble, I dont drink alcohol, but hey Im the DD! But I do smoke! None of us are perfect, everyone does something that is not healthful.

My family is strongly opposed to smoking, yet my grandfather died of lung cancer and NEVER smoked a day in his life! Living is a risk itself!

The hospital I work at used to have a NO SMOKING policy for all employee's, if caught once you were counseled, caught twice you were provided smoking cessation classes, third time you were terminated, if I remember right. That has nowchanged andsmoking is allowed in designated area's for all.

Another good point that was made is you can make a choice to take a quick break even if you dont smoke, I would hope though that smoker or not most nurses dont take breaks when their assignment is going to H#LL in a hand basket, and if they do thats another story. I work with many nurses that get report and go get their morning coffee, doesnt bother me a bit.

Now even though I smoke, I NEVER SMOKE during my 12 hour shifts, I found what I think is a great secret for smokers, because I myself dont feel real comfortable leaving the unit and my pts, (Im a L&D nurse) even though I know other nurses would take good care of them the 5 min's that I was gone. Its just the anal and nervous part of me, but certainly dont mind covering for a smoker or nonsmoker while they take a break. I chew the Nicotene gum and love it, the first time I used it I wasnt sure about it, but it does work great. Besides not wanting to leave the unit, I dont smoke at work because I dont want to be asked why, or looked down upon for smoking, I dont tell anyone I work with that I smoke. In the morning I dont smoke while wearing my scrubs, I keep my work bag and coat in a area of the house I dont smoke (my non-smoking work appearal). Even though the gum works, dont ask me why I dont use it all the time, I guess I just havent decided any reason is good enough to quit the real thing, until now, so please read on.

After much planning and God willing my husband and I have decided to try and have a baby. We would like to start trying at the end of July this year. I obviously plan on quitting, and D Day is set for June 1. I have spoke with my OB and FP doc. My mom has even offered to by the gum or patch to help, she and my dad worry sooo much about the smoking. So everyone who has quit or tried, I would love to hear any words of wisdom and advice.

To be honest Im a scared.

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wow....i need to quit reading and posting as i go.... :chuckle i got way too many up here. sorry guys. well...i figured out a reason why some of us smoke...(me anyways..)..cause i want to...plain and simple...no biggy to me who does or doesnt. everyone's gonna die one day of something. if it's not my health...i'll probably get run over by a horse while i'm crossing the road to my mailbox...knowing my luck :rotfl:

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Specializes in Obstetrics, M/S, Psych.

BENNETTRN

If you are scared, is it because you are scared of failing when you try to quit? Be easy on yourself there; it takes the average person 8 tries to actually kick the habit! I can understand your not wanting to fail, but I think you sound like a great candidate for quitting since you go 12 hours without it already. The gum sure does help, I know. I was addicted to it for about a year and a half after I actually quit puffing! You have set a quit date which is a great idea, too. Good idea to have that point of reference. Also, wanting to conceive is a great motivator. If you're lucky, you will be one of those moms who can't stand the smell of cigarettes once you get pregnant. Good luck!

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Specializes in Telemetry, ICU, Resource Pool, Dialysis.
if i remember correctly....and i say IF...didn't george burns smoke and drink and lived into his late 90's or 100? :stone

You're right. But...he drank 1 martini a day(I think that's what it was) and smoked cigars (I don't think cigars are inhaled)

BENNETTRN - what a good point about obesity. Why is it OK to ask smokers why they smoke when they know it's bad for them, but it would be considered the ultimate in rudeness to ask an obese person why they are fat? Can you imagine saying to a co-worker "Please don't be offended, but I see that you are eating a very large portion of Sally's birthday cake. Don't you know that you are contributing to your own obesity? What if the patients see you? Have you tried to lose weight? Why don't you just STOP eating? By the way. it has been proven that obesity contributes to heart disease and stroke, as well as diabetes. You should know that, you're a nurse!!! Haven't you learned anything, taking care of all these patients with complications related to obesity?"

I know, (at the risk of sounding stressed out and hostile) let's just blame everything on the smokers.

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well.....

i didnt understand why nurses smoke so much, especially those who chain smoked. but now i'm in nursing business, i kinda understand why nurses do smoke. i think stress of nursing job is a one of the factors of why nurses smoke. i mean there is so much stress in nursing job. it is our duty to provide a safe care to the patients, and nurses have so many patient loads and we are still expected to provide a safe care. not only that is enough we have to deal with rude patients, backstabbing of fellow co-workers, and the very unsupportive managements. and are we nurses being paid enough when patients life depends on our hand? no !!!! i am better off working as a cna since my salary isnt much higher than them!!!! ha!! :angryfire i've never smoked in my whole life, but since i started working as a licensed nurse, there are so many days i was so stressed out that i wanted to go out and smoke my lungs out!!!

but nurses, please remember

we nurses are educated and know more than anybody else how bad it is to your health when you smoke right? we take care of patients who have to be dependent on oxygen because they smoked their lungs out right?

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BENNETTRN

If you are scared, is it because you are scared of failing when you try to quit? Be easy on yourself there; it takes the average person 8 tries to actually kick the habit! I can understand your not wanting to fail, but I think you sound like a great candidate for quitting since you go 12 hours without it already. The gum sure does help, I know. I was addicted to it for about a year and a half after I actually quit puffing! You have set a quit date which is a great idea, too. Good idea to have that point of reference. Also, wanting to conceive is a great motivator. If you're lucky, you will be one of those moms who can't stand the smell of cigarettes once you get pregnant. Good luck!

Thanks for the motivation, and the stat, wow I didnt know the average was 8 times before actually quitting. I will give it my all, so many of you have done, and I need to join the ranks. It must feel great to say I was able to quit.

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You're right. But...he drank 1 martini a day(I think that's what it was) and smoked cigars (I don't think cigars are inhaled)

BENNETTRN - what a good point about obesity. Why is it OK to ask smokers why they smoke when they know it's bad for them, but it would be considered the ultimate in rudeness to ask an obese person why they are fat? Can you imagine saying to a co-worker "Please don't be offended, but I see that you are eating a very large portion of Sally's birthday cake. Don't you know that you are contributing to your own obesity? What if the patients see you? Have you tried to lose weight? Why don't you just STOP eating? By the way. it has been proven that obesity contributes to heart disease and stroke, as well as diabetes. You should know that, you're a nurse!!! Haven't you learned anything, taking care of all these patients with complications related to obesity?"

I know, (at the risk of sounding stressed out and hostile) let's just blame everything on the smokers.

Exactly- instead of reading her the riot act for eating so much of Sally's birthday cake, I will accept her for who she is, and all the wonderful qualities she posesses as a person, and should she decide the try and loose some weight I will be there when she is a little on edge because she is being forced to stomach rice cakes, just like I would hope she would be there for me when I was on the edge, chewing the end off of every pen in sight or eating 3/4's of Sallys cake because I was trying to quit smoking, LOL :) !!!!!!!

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Specializes in Correctional Nursing, Geriatrics.
Nurses who drink and drink , nurses who eat high fat diets, nurses who have unprotected sex..............................Please the list goes on and on and on.

Freedom of choice, is that not what we fight wars for!

:o

NO DOUBT!! :rotfl:

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Specializes in Correctional Nursing, Geriatrics.
Smoking is proven to cause lung cancer........

Unprotected sex, you are playing russian roulette with diseases and pregnancy, but not guarenteed.......

The same could go with occasional drinking and the diet.........But smoking is proven.

It's pretty much PROVEN if you eat a high fat diet you're gonna get FAT and clogged arteries... :uhoh3:

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Specializes in RN, BSN, CHDN.
Smoking is proven to cause lung cancer........

Unprotected sex, you are playing russian roulette with diseases and pregnancy, but not guarenteed.......

The same could go with occasional drinking and the diet.........But smoking is proven.

I know these things but we are just human beings and if we were perfect and everybody did as they should then we would be out of a job.

Ps just for the record I am not a smoker just a realist

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