Patients allowed to go outside and smoke???

Nurses Relations

Updated:   Published

nurses-allow-patients-smoke.jpg.4e557526c155f9f9bd1005e913dd3a00.jpg

I am currently in a position at an inner city hospital, and have been here for a bit now. The hospital/doctors allow our patients to leave the floor to smoke as long as they have a waiver signed that basically states they are utilizing their time off the floor without being monitored and anything that happens is out of the hospital's control. Every nurse on the floor (in the hospital I should say) is against this for multiple obvious reasons; especially Per Diem RN's that just laugh at how ridiculous it is.

I am really just interested in knowing if there are any other hospitals out there that allow their patients to do this? I mean it's not always just smoking cigarettes, but patients roam the streets of the city for up to 2 hours, as they know the 2 hour mark defines them as eloped. Am I just crazy?

One thing I do not understand is if Cigarette is so bad to a point all Hospitals are no-smoke, they why the Government is allowing cigar rates to be sold legally? It is one side is Legal and other side is illegal where people need the facility? Perhaps they have a smoking room separate vent system?

What happens if one is cancer or some serious gastric situation and still a smoker that can not take nicotine patches due to bad adhesive? How they are well if they want to smoke?

People have the right to choose to do all kinds of things that are bad for them, but they can't necessarily do them in the hospital.

Specializes in Geriatrics, Dialysis.
Not all hospitals have non-smoking policies. Many hospitals still allow patients and staff to smoke in designated areas on the facility grounds.

I wouldn't have thought that until I took a trip to the southeast last spring. I was shocked that as soon as we hit Illinois there was still an option for "smoking or non smoking" rooms in the hotels. The farther south we got the more common it was to see smoking in bars and even smoking sections in restaurants. So I suppose smoking areas on hospital grounds would not be a stretch. Of course we were heading to the tobacco growing region of the US so I suppose I shouldn't have been so surprised.

Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
The farther south we got the more common it was to see smoking in bars and even smoking sections in restaurants.
Yep. I am in Texas and just left the bedside a little over a week ago. The last hospital where I worked had a smoking section about 15 feet from the main entrance. I should also add that many of the bars and hotels here allow indoor smoking.

I just started a new job and had to provide a urine specimen to test for nicotine metabolites (cotinine) to prove I was a nonsmoker. It seems like more employers are jumping on the nonsmoking bandwagon for various reasons, even in regions with traditionally high cigarette smoking rates.

This is a challenging subject. I agree for the most part. Patients off the unit place the organization at risk, especially if something happens like they fall or crash while off the unit. Patients who leave that are confused or not oriented is a whole different story! Patients who are a/o and competent must also be held accountable for their actions. So many hospitals are approaching this subject differently, some being 100% smoke free, some allowing certain patients identified with colored bands, and others just signing the waivers.

But here's a question I need to know like now what was the name of that waiver

When I worked at a hospital , pts would go down near the ER with IV poles etc to smoke. As did many staff ( while us nonsmokers " listened for their pts").

Then the smoker pts would come back in and ring for us to call RT to come " give them their breathing treatment !"

It was a crock of Shoot

Specializes in Hospice.

I mean, is this a hospital or a prison? If a pt wants to go smoke then by all means, as far as I'm concerned, that's their right. There won't be a liability if the waiver is signed. We're nurses, not wardens, and it's not for you or me to try to enforce our beliefs on what we think is right or wrong on them. If they leave AMA, then they leave AMA. I mean put you're energy into more important things. 

Absolutely not. Most hospitals now are smoke free on the ENTIRE campus.

Specializes in teaching, research, and evidence-based practice.

It's not as uncommon as you might think! Many hospitals have policies that allow patients to go outside and smoke, as long as they sign a waiver and aren't actively being monitored. I get how it can be concerning to nurses, though. 

Allowing patients to leave the unit unmonitored to smoke, or engage in other activities, is risky for both the patient and the hospital. Yes, they can sign a waiver, but not being monitored by their nurse puts them at risk for injury or harm, and the hospital could be held liable. 

If you have a concern with the policy, bring it to your leadership team. I don't think there's anything wrong with voicing your concerns about something that can impact patient safety and quality of care!

+ Add a Comment