Pa hospital system won't hire smokers

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No, we'll just sit on umployment for well over a year and take your money from your paycheck to help with that..

Oh honey, if you wanted an excuse to sit at home and watch Oprah all day, you didn't have to wait for this smoking thing to come out. I'm sure there are any other number of forms of victimology you can employ to get yourself a nice cushy spot in Uncle Sam's wallet. Sexual harassment, gender discrimination, hey...you can pretend to be gay for a few weeks and quit because the workplace environment wasn't accepting you.

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Specializes in CRNA.
Believe me, we would get it. Termination for cigarettes will not fly, as there will be huge lawsuits in return..

What makes you think that. Even an organization as liberal as the ACLU with hundreds of scum sucking trial lawyers turned away from this.

From the OP's referenced article: "An attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union in Harrisburg says the policy doesn't raise civil rights issues because tobacco users aren't a protected class".

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Trust me honey, Oprah is the last thing on my mind. I live on a 15 acre Arabian horse farm, no sitting here....

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Specializes in ER.

In PA, they can terminate you if they don't like your perfume/haircut/t-shirt....etc, FWIW. PA is an "at will" employment state. An employer can terminate you at any time, for any reason....so long as it is not illegal. Termination for smoking is not illegal. Smokers are not protected with regard to discrimination. Remember, you are the employee, not the employer. If you'd like to work for a specific company, it might be wise to adopt behaviors that are desired by said company.

JMHO.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, ICU, educator.
If you'd like to work for a specific company, it might be wise to adopt behaviors that are desired by said company.

JMHO.

As my momma likes to say--when in Rome, do as the Romans do. If you don't like what they're doing in Rome, then don't go there!--It's one of the few things me and mom agree on........

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Specializes in Med Surg.

A couple of thoughts on this subject.

What I get really tired of is the sense of entitlement so many smokers feel. I have seen numerous times that a smoker feels it is perfectly okay to run outside for a quick smoke break but then be the loudest complainer on the floor about a non-smoker who runs down to the cafeteria to grab a snack or something to drink before it closes. If you are going to do something don't be a hypocrite about it.

Employers have the right to set the conditions of employment. Prospective employees on the other hand have the right to choose whether or not they wish to meet those conditions in order to gain employment with that employer.

My own opinion is that people have the right to kill themselves in the privacy of their own home if they choose. I think a better way for employers to handle smokers would be to go ahead and test them for nicotine and make them pay more for their insurance. You could make the argument that the same could be done with the obese employee as well but since obesity is considered a disease in many quarters, it would come under the heading of a pre-existing condition, a subject which is addressed in both the health care bills now being considered.

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Specializes in jack of all trades.

Very similar many hospitals in my area are also doing the same requiring "smoke free". In our paper and news this week Bert Fish recieved a $25,000 state grant to purchase patches and nicotine gum for thier staff. Consider this is only a 116 bed hospital and I doubt it's takes $25,000 to help staff quit unless every staff member in the hospital smoked lol. http://www.wesh.com/health/21666278/detail.html

I agree with helping staff quit but I'm sorry I can think of a whole lot more things to spend $25,000 state grant money on (hmm my tax dollars at thier best). I am one of those casual smokers who has one in a blue moon but I disagree with being told I may be tested to see if I had that one in a blue moon smoke. I dont smoke at work and never did when I was a pack a day smoker. Yes employers can regulate but I disagree in them telling me what I can and cant do on my off time in my own home when it's legal. So if my wieght goes up 10 more pounds will that be next? It was just on the news tonight of a college requiring students to take a condiitoning class if thier weight/bmi was more than thier requirements or they cant graduate!! So obviously it can happen.

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Very similar many hospitals in my area are also doing the same requiring "smoke free". In our paper and news this week Bert Fish recieved a $25,000 state grant to purchase patches and nicotine gum for thier staff. Consider this is only a 116 bed hospital and I doubt it's takes $25,000 to help staff quit unless every staff member in the hospital smoked lol. http://www.wesh.com/health/21666278/detail.html

I agree with helping staff quit but I'm sorry I can think of a whole lot more things to spend $25,000 state grant money on (hmm my tax dollars at thier best). I am one of those casual smokers who has one in a blue moon but I disagree with being told I may be tested to see if I had that one in a blue moon smoke. I dont smoke at work and never did when I was a pack a day smoker. Yes employers can regulate but I disagree in them telling me what I can and cant do on my off time in my own home when it's legal. So if my wieght goes up 10 more pounds will that be next? It was just on the news tonight of a college requiring students to take a condiitoning class if thier weight/bmi was more than thier requirements or they cant graduate!! So obviously it can happen.

Have you ever seen a 250 pound personal trainer that smokes?

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Specializes in CTICU.

I agree that what you do on employer property is their business. However - smoking doesn't impair your performance like say, narcotics that they test for. I can't see how it's any of their business if you smoke on your own time.

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Specializes in jack of all trades.
Have you ever seen a 250 pound personal trainer that smokes?

Hmm not sure how "personal trainer" comes in lol. If you are referring to my comment related to requiring weight limits it wasnt personal trainers, it didnt matter what degree if you dont meet weight requirements example as an accountant you dont graduate. So if your in nursing program and told you are 10 lbs overweight we will not let you graduate until you loose it? I have no issue with saying no smoking on the premises, no smoking at work, but when you propose to test me to see if I smoke at all? then yes I have an issue. I havent missed a days work for being ill in over 25 years except when I had my son who is now 22 lol, nor have I ever had any issue with lungs, sob, or heart disease and I'm in my 50's. Work out, go to the gym, swim, but it's my choice to be that way not because an employer or anyone insist. I just think many are using these state grants to go non smoking for other causes and not what they are directed to. Yes they get grants with big dollars to go non smoking I just hope they are doing it for the right reasons rather than to get the grants to be spent elsewhere.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,576148,00.html ( also in PA)

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Hmm not sure how "personal trainer" comes in lol. If you are referring to my comment related to requiring weight limits it wasnt personal trainers, it didnt matter what degree if you dont meet weight requirements example as an accountant you dont graduate. So if your in nursing program and told you are 10 lbs overweight we will not let you graduate until you loose it? I have no issue with saying no smoking on the premises, no smoking at work, but when you propose to test me to see if I smoke at all? then yes I have an issue. I havent missed a days work for being ill in over 25 years except when I had my son who is now 22 lol, nor have I ever had any issue with lungs, sob, or heart disease and I'm in my 50's. Work out, go to the gym, swim, but it's my choice to be that way not because an employer or anyone insist. I just think many are using these state grants to go non smoking for other causes and not what they are directed to. Yes they get grants with big dollars to go non smoking I just hope they are doing it for the right reasons rather than to get the grants to be spent elsewhere.

I was making the point that obesity, or smoking for that matter, probably isn't going to go over all that well if you're trying to get a position as a personal trainer. Something about it being a health related field and you just not fitting the bill.

Now, if you want to go on about state grants...that's an entirely different argument, which I'm afraid will sidetrack the topic. So I'll try to keep it brief.

1) Grants for nicotine gum is a waste of taxpayers money.

2) I don't really think the grants have much to do with this decision, more so insurance costs and the overall image of the health care profession.

3) State and federal government is completely different then private hospitals. The crusade against smokers is picking up speed, and it's widely accepted as a good thing. It removes freedom of choice, and I'm guessing once the government is responsible for footing the bill for more and more health care, you are going to see a substantial increase in government intervention to keep costs down. You're going to see a huge increase in the taxes on vices like cigarettes and alchohol. I wouldn't be surprised it they reach $20 a pack. Not to mention these stupid taxes the democrats are considering on fast food and sugary drinks and things like that. Motorcycles are risky buisness too, and you'll see them imposing special licensing fees to offset the costs of providing health care. How much do you think sports injuries are going to cost in health care before they impose new regulations to keep athletes safe? Gun control? Really, theres no end in sight.

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Specializes in LTC Family Practice.

i'm an on and off smoker, i was raised by two smokers and was surounded by it for all of my youth (50's & 60's). when i went to nursing school, smoking was allowed in the hospital (71-72) even my clinical instructor smoked. i battle the addiction every day, sometimes i win sometimes i don't. i've tried everything on the market more than once. i also believe that some have more addictive make-ups than others, i know my parents were not only smokers but probably functioning alcoholics, at the very least they were very heavy drinkers. i don't drink or do drugs but i struggle daily with my weight now at 59 (i'm post-meno and very hypothyroid) and with my addiction to cigarettes. i've worked in smoke free environments for years, but i do smoke at home and in my car when i'm not on one plan or another.

i'm all for smoke free evnironments, but what i do on my own time is my own time. do i want to quit, yes, but for some of us it's not easy. it is an addiction that many of us battle. do i expect preferencial treatment when it comes to breaks - no and since i have worked in smoke free environments it's not an option anyway.

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