Nursing, Smoking, and Kids

Nurses General Nursing

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I have a neighbor that has two small children and they are serious chain smokers. I've always thought that smoking around children is a form of child abuse. But I've never wanted to say anything to them because despite my personal feelings, smoking around kids is discouraged but not illegal (yet). At least not where I live. So all I do is walk by and do nothing about it. Now, I am a nursing student. And as a future nurse, I feel obligated to do something. But what can I possibly do considering it is not illegal? If I talk to them, they could retaliate in some way. I don't really know them so I don't have a clue how they would react. I am just fearful for the kids (ages 2 and 4). Should I just mind my own business? I'm not trying to be a nosey neighbor. I just don't want to see the kids develop asthma or cancer or something.

Specializes in Telemetry.
Would I say anything? No, not unless they were good friends. Like posted before, if those kids have ever seen a doctor, they have probably been advised.

I also find it interesting how many smokers say that they don't smoke with the kids in the house or in the car. But be it outside or just not when the kids are around, the toxins from the smoke remain in clothing, furniture, the fruit in the bowl on the counter, towels hanging in the bathroom, etc. etc. I am looking for the studies I used for my paper in college, but just because a child in a smoking household may not be directly exposed to second-hand smoke, they are still exposed to all of the chemicals and are still very much at risk that way. It is very nasty and while not exposing non-smokers to the second-hand smoke helps, it is nowhere near the same as being in a non-smoking environment.

Sorry, but I disagree. For one, when I finish smoking, I wash my hands. Secondly, the chance that smoke residue rubs off my clothes and onto the furniture and then onto the kids and then causing adverse effects is so small I'd say going outside and breathing the pollutants already in the air from cars, factories etc probably has more of a chance of causing adverse effects. In fact I bet eating a mcdonald's cheeseburger is probably worse for them than sitting on our couch possibly rubbing against 3rd hand toxins from my smoking.

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Specializes in cardiac, ortho, med-surg.
sorry, but i disagree. for one, when i finish smoking, i wash my hands. secondly, the chance that smoke residue rubs off my clothes and onto the furniture and then onto the kids and then causing adverse effects is so small i'd say going outside and breathing the pollutants already in the air from cars, factories etc probably has more of a chance of causing adverse effects. in fact i bet eating a mcdonald's cheeseburger is probably worse for them than sitting on our couch possibly rubbing against 3rd hand toxins from my smoking.

how inflammatory but how true! i smoke too:nono:, and i also smoke outside and away from my kids. i also wash my hands when i am done. i did not smoke through my pregnancies and not for a long time after. i picked it up again after a traumatic experience a year and a half ago. i was one of those militant anti-smoking people while i was a quitter (i'm no quitter!!:lol2:) though i limit myself to only smoking while alone in the car, on the porch, and never while at work, i enjoy the ones i have. am i evil? yes i am...:bugeyes:

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i am an ex-smoker so i can relate to stanley deciding between food or cigarettes

however i would urge him and anyone else to quit, my father died of emphysema and he really suffered as he fought for breath

i quit a long time ago and most of the time i don't like the smell of other peoples smoke, i don't drink on a regular basis but when i am having something with alcohol i have a yearning for a cigarette, when i first quit smoking [it took 1506 tries] i had been in the habit of having coffee and a cigarette while i read the morning paper...it was like i had lost my best friend

quite a bit away from the op, don't say anything to them, when it is their time to quit they will quit...with the cost of cigarettes these days i don't see how anyone can afford it

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Specializes in Emergency Dept, M/S.
Sorry, but I disagree. For one, when I finish smoking, I wash my hands. Secondly, the chance that smoke residue rubs off my clothes and onto the furniture and then onto the kids and then causing adverse effects is so small I'd say going outside and breathing the pollutants already in the air from cars, factories etc probably has more of a chance of causing adverse effects. In fact I bet eating a mcdonald's cheeseburger is probably worse for them than sitting on our couch possibly rubbing against 3rd hand toxins from my smoking.

Disagree all you'd like, but it's been proven. I would provide the link if I could find it, but it's been a while since I wrote the paper for nursing school. I never said it was an abundant amount, just that it is there. I'm not a scientist so I'm not going to get into how much transfers and how much is really poisonous, etc. But there IS toxin, whether someone smokes outside or inside.

And these are toxins that are avoidable, just as the bad things in McD's cheeseburgers are. No one says anyone must eat them. Just as no one says people must smoke. Toxins that are in the air are much harder to avoid, obviously.

I'm not stating this to place blame on anyone, just stating it as a fact that they are there. I'm not judging. I am an ex-smoker for over 19 years now, so yes, I do know the effects and how hard it is to quit, etc. People are just misinformed when they think not smoking around kids is the answer, because it's not, just as using Febreze and gum covers up the smell, because it doesn't. The OP was asking about smoking around children, that's all.

I'm not turning this into a smoker vs. non-smoker conversation, which it obviously has turned into. I'm stepping out of this thread for good, since several smokers seem to not believe toxins exist after the the cigarette has been put out.

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I'm stepping out of this thread for good, since several smokers seem to not believe toxins exist after the the cigarette has been put out.

a link would quell much of our disbelief.

a statement such as yours, should be supported by substantive data.

otherwise, it remains a moot point.

leslie

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Specializes in Telemetry.
how inflammatory but how true! i smoke too:nono:, and i also smoke outside and away from my kids. i also wash my hands when i am done. i did not smoke through my pregnancies and not for a long time after. i picked it up again after a traumatic experience a year and a half ago. i was one of those militant anti-smoking people while i was a quitter (i'm no quitter!!:lol2:) though i limit myself to only smoking while alone in the car, on the porch, and never while at work, i enjoy the ones i have. am i evil? yes i am...:bugeyes:

i wasn't meaning to be inflammatory. i just respectfully disagree. i think yes, toxins could be on my clothes- hence why i don't do things like go around or hold babies after smoking, unless i've showered and put clean clothes on. i'm more fanatical about precautions around babies than older kids (like mine) i'm just saying i feel there isn't much risk from

residue around the house that may or may not have rubbed off from my clothing. if there are reputable studies to prove me wrong i will happily retract my statement. it just doesn't seem likely to me.

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Specializes in cardiac, ortho, med-surg.
i wasn't meaning to be inflammatory. i just respectfully disagree. i think yes, toxins could be on my clothes- hence why i don't do things like go around or hold babies after smoking, unless i've showered and put clean clothes on. i'm more fanatical about precautions around babies than older kids (like mine) i'm just saying i feel there isn't much risk from

residue around the house that may or may not have rubbed off from my clothing. if there are reputable studies to prove me wrong i will happily retract my statement. it just doesn't seem likely to me.

i guess that came out wrong....it is hard to put my tone of voice onto a post....i just figured that there would be backlash for your comments. i completely agree with you on all your points. i also agree with your last statement. i think that's why the op was so worried about those kids. there weren't any precautions taken, and though smoking is unhealthy, there needs to be some sense and responsibility coming with it. you made plenty of sense to me!:yeah:

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Specializes in no specialty! (have to graduate first!).

I'm not sure that I would agree that the toxins left in clothes, furniture, and so on are particularly harmful. Yes, the toxins are there, but as someone else mentioned, we probably get more exposure to more dangerous toxins when we walk out into "the fresh air". Someone smelling like cigarettes is not what bothers me, it's the second hand smoke that does.

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I'm not sure that I would agree that the toxins left in clothes, furniture, and so on are particularly harmful. Yes, the toxins are there, but as someone else mentioned, we probably get more exposure to more dangerous toxins when we walk out into "the fresh air". Someone smelling like cigarettes is not what bothers me, it's the second hand smoke that does.

i can honestly say that if i saw a baby being directly engulfed in 2nd hand smoke, i would say something.

i'm not saying i'd be acting appropriately, but i have spoken up over these and other issues before, and will likely do it again.

trust me, it would be so much easier to mind my own business and walk away.

i do understand your frustration.

if it makes you feel any better, speak your mind.

just be prepared to be told where to go.

leslie

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Specializes in no specialty! (have to graduate first!).

Speaking of smoke on clothes, google 'third hand smoke'. There are several websites discussing the harm of smoke residue on clothes and other objects. I guess it makes sense. But I think it mostly applies to inafnts that are being held constantly and small children who stick things in their mouths. Personally, I feel that third hand smoke is still not good but it is the least of my worries when it comes to smoking around kids. If a parent is taking the proper precautions and never smoking around their kids, that is the best thing they can do short of trying to quit. If it means their will be residue, that's fine; it's far better than smoking in their presence.

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Specializes in acute care, ltc, trauma.

Why the sudden urge to talk to them since starting nsg school? Would you tell someone who was drinking around their child they could be rotting their liver out...i mean eventually that would harm their child(emotionally) as well. Best to just shhhhh. I agree with you that it is a bad habit and TERRIBLE for kiddos to be around but will u help or make it worse?

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Specializes in no specialty! (have to graduate first!).
Why the sudden urge to talk to them since starting nsg school? Would you tell someone who was drinking around their child they could be rotting their liver out...i mean eventually that would harm their child(emotionally) as well. Best to just shhhhh. I agree with you that it is a bad habit and TERRIBLE for kiddos to be around but will u help or make it worse?

Because I thought that becoming a health care professional meant that I would have an obligation to help people. Guess some people don't feel that way. But as I've already stated, I don't plan on saying anything because it is not my place. It is the place of the doctors and nurses that actually treat them.

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