Our hospital is going SMOKE FREE!

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in Cardiothoracic.

Hello! I am very excited to announce that our hospital is going "Smoke Free" on November 19th! Currently, there is a designated smoking area for staff and patients that is located conveniently in front of the front lobby. Nice huh?

The new policy will not allow anyone to smoke within 36 yards of the facility. There will be no more doctor's orders for a patient to leave the floor for a smoke break. If the patient decides to go down for a smoke they will have to sign themselves out of the hospital and go AMA. As for the staff members, theyw ill be offereed smoking cessation assistance. If they are caught smoking on property, they will get written up as it is a breach in policy.

I am interested to hear what other hospitals are doing to attack this problem of smoking at a hospital!

Thank you,

Christina, RN

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Wow -- what took y'all so long? All the hospitals I'm aware of have been "tobacco-free" for several years now (and I'm in the heart of the "tobacco belt").

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We still have a smoking room INSIDE of ours, conveniently located on the oncology floor. I wish we would go smoke free.

MissLo

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Specializes in all things maternity.

Our hospital went smoke free about 2 years ago. What a joke!!!! Employees still smoke at the back door day and night. And visitors still sit in front of the hospital right by the "This is a smoke free facility" sign and the big ashtrays provided by the hospital and smoke their brains out. I hope your hospital is more serious about actually enforcing it then my administration is.

:angryfire

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Hello! I am very excited to announce that our hospital is going "Smoke Free" on November 19th! Currently, there is a designated smoking area for staff and patients that is located conveniently in front of the front lobby. Nice huh?

The new policy will not allow anyone to smoke within 36 yards of the facility. There will be no more doctor's orders for a patient to leave the floor for a smoke break. If the patient decides to go down for a smoke they will have to sign themselves out of the hospital and go AMA. As for the staff members, theyw ill be offereed smoking cessation assistance. If they are caught smoking on property, they will get written up as it is a breach in policy.

I am interested to hear what other hospitals are doing to attack this problem of smoking at a hospital!

Thank you,

Christina, RN

It's about time!

The hospital where I worked previously went smoke free about 8 years ago with NO smoking facilities on campus.

I work for a clinic and they went smoke free about 5 years ago-why did it take your facility so long??

BTW all the hospitals and clinics in the area are smoke free as well.

otessa

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Specializes in Utilization Management.

My clinic is smoke-free...which means no more designated smoking areas with receptacles to put out cigarettes. Now all the smokers are seen wandering the sidewalks around the campus, extinguishing their cigarettes wherever they see fit. It's really rather ugly to look at it. The sidewalks were once nicely landscaped with mulch...now the mulch is covered by a layer of cigarette butts. I've suggested containers be placed along the sidewalks to prevent this hideousness, but so far my suggestion has fallen on deaf ears.

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Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, ED.

My facility is smoke free as well. It has its pros and cons. I've had patients leave AMA over not being able to smoke, including one with a fresh femoral arteriotomy!

As a nonsmoker, I do like not having to walk through clouds of smoke, and I think it's great that the hospital is taking a stand against the number one cause of preventable illness....now if they would just do something about the food!

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We still have a smoking room INSIDE of ours, conveniently located on the oncology floor. I wish we would go smoke free.

MissLo

AAHHH! Those poor non-smoking oncology pts. Personally, as an asthmatic, I wish that all smoking areas everywear were confined to the loading dock...if at all

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Specializes in thinking about being a PA instead, now.

It's a wonder to me that any hospitals would still have indoor smoking rooms! :eek: All the corporate offices I've worked in did not allow for that and made them freeze outside in the winter! Of course, it wasn't a treat to be forced to walk through the clouds of smoke to get to the front entrance either. :dzed:

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Specializes in Oncology.

My hospital is smoke free. The campus police writes people up if they smoke and turns it in for disciplinary actions and they are ALWAYS walking around campus. They even actually found hiding places that employees go to and put cameras in place. The closes place for people to smoke is 3 blocks away.

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Specializes in Anesthesia, CTICU.
My hospital is smoke free. The campus police writes people up if they smoke and turns it in for disciplinary actions and they are ALWAYS walking around campus. They even actually found hiding places that employees go to and put cameras in place. The closes place for people to smoke is 3 blocks away.

I'm assuming the campus police can only write up employees.. how do they handle patients and families who refuse to be compliant?

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Specializes in ICU.

My hospital is smoke free, as are all in the area. People just leave the campus to smoke. All I really think it's done is make smoke breaks longer. I'm waiting for the time that somebody codes when a third of the staff is off property smoking. :(

:paw:

:paw:

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