patients smoking

nicotine patch in place and continued smoking can cause heart attack...I am surprised physician okayed that.

We have a 27 year old quad (some left hand use, enough to use the remote control and smoke) who is in a HEAVY sand/waterbed...He just had a skin graft placed over a stage 4 left hip ulcer...He insisted on smoking, so 3 of us wheel him out to the smoker's patio...

Live and let live! (except when on cannulated oxygen...it will blow up in the face while smoking!!)

sean

There's only so much we can do to persuade people to live healthy lives.. what they do with that information is all up to them. He's heard the smoking is bad for you lecture tons of times. We can suggest, ask, educate, and explain, but we can't force..

In my hospital, pt's are told on admit that there is no smoking. We had one pt who wouldn't accept that, and was constently yelling at staff who told her no. On day 3, her Dr was on the floor and heard her carry on. He went into the room and gave her a lecture on how to treat a nurse and then discharged her.

Well I remember the days we could smoke in our hospital rooms..... I think that hospitals should offer them a place to smoke and let them smoke......Pts are nervous in hospitals and feining for a cig for a day or a week doesn't help the nerves much.... But then again, I ALMOST quit when I was in the hospital becuz I decided to not go outside and just see if I could do it, if a patch was offered I probably would have quit smoking and been a lot healthier, so who knows?

I work in a LTC faciltiy

We have a smoke room that is open 4 times a day and smoking is supervised on monitors

We can only do so much teaching

Some of our residents have smoked for over 5o years and probably won't live for more then 1-5 years, even though most of them are on inhalation therapies and O2 nothing is going to stop them at this point in time

What is the legal aspect of a pt going out to smoke and falling- or using drugs - this pt had IV access and was not asking staff to go out with him, he is a know IV drug user and is being treated for a raging infection. I feel set up by the nursing manager in that the staffs safety was not considered and if something did happen my licence would be brought in to question.

Regarding SJSU's point, it also cuts to the many nurses we all might work with that leave periodically for their smoking break?

Obviously a hard habit to break.

must be great to have enough staff to accompany people outside in order to perform a task that is life-threatening. Sounds weird to me. We offer patches. No one, not even employees, allowed to smoke on campus anywhere. If patient insists, we call MD and get order for DC or they may go AMA, but we do not promote smoking.

We have a smoking area for visitors and employees but I have never seen an order to allow a patient out to smoke nor do we send staff out with a patient to allow them to smoke. I just tell them that we discourage smoking because of the health risks associated with smoking and also our concern for the safety of said patient because they will be ambulating (by foot or wheelchair) without supervision. When they argue I tell them that although I would suggest they do not go out I can not make them stay in their room. If they choose to go out I document it thoroughly and inform the house doctor. Let the doc decide to discharge them if they want. I can't keep them a prisoner- but I never give them permission either.

We have an outdoor smoking area at our hospital (where I do clinical placement and will be working after graduation). It is for visitors, staff and patients. Staff does NOT accompany clients who wish to smoke outdoors. If they are able to go on their own, fine... if not, family members must take them. We are not responsible for what happens to them when they are outside smoking. It does become an issue when trying to give meds, get tests done, etc. If a med is late, or a test not done, we document that the client was outside smoking so the MD knows WHY.

Hospitalization is stressful enough without FORCING someone to quit. A person will not quit until they are ready, there is no point in taking away their right to do as they wish.

On a personal note, I am a smoker. Keep thinking I should quit, especially with all of the palliative lung CA's I've seen. I do NOT smoke in my home... this is my addiction not my children's and I do not impose the risks upon them. As for nurses taking smoke breaks... none of the smoking nurses at "my" hospital take anymore breaks than the non-smoking nurses. As all of you know, you are lucky to even get your break. And what a person does on their break, is their business.