Should smokers be admitted into the nursing program?

legend0710 · Mar 2, 2011

Here are just a few - comon now wake up!

Fatty Food Fumes Could Be Dangerous : Discovery News

The Effects of Inhalation of Clorox Fumes | eHow.com

Frequently Asked Questions - Department of Health & Hospitals ...

The Department of Health and Hospitals protects and promotes health and ensures ... I can smell the oil. Is that dangerous? Nothing dangerous has been ...

Can Your Mattress Kill You? - Softpedia

Diesel fumes pose dangerous health risks, study shows

Fumes sicken people at Elgin apartments - Courier News

Remember the old days when there were white people and black people those who had slaves and those against it? We have come such a long way havent we? or have we? Now its about calling people stinky over ciggerett smoke? Your either a smoker or a non smoker? There no difference only because of the attitude people are taking against one or the other.

Google assault and smoking, select news, and start reading how many assaults are out there from non smokers against smokers now days! Wow pathetic indeed. I was personally told by a fellow fire fighter that he hoped I die of lung cancer and buried deep in the ground and this was said in front of his children outside no less!

Non smokers seem to be getting nastier and nastier now days.

Now they have 3rd hand smoke? are you serious lol! 3rd hand smoke amazing! Yes a smoker may stink after smoking, but you all forgot what it smelled like after getting off the public transportation of diesel smoke fumes, or the fumes from the gas pump after filling up your tank on your way to the hospitals! No one recognizes those "stink" smells anymore because your all focused on the big bad smoker.

lulu in ks · Mar 2, 2011

It just amazes me how you can even for one second propose that smokers should not be allowed to become nurses. How do smokers affect your decision to study nursing? Why, not just refuse left-handed people,or what about people with blond hair,or whatever else you can come up with. Then we can attack police officers that are over-weight. There is always someone in the bunch that has too much time for useless thinking. I'm glad you're not in politics. your idea is worth a penny. :twocents:

PatMac10,RN, RN · Mar 2, 2011

In a way it is good that some get into the program because nursing is sometimes what gets them on the road to quitting. But I must admit I have seen plenty of nursing students standing outside the health science education building smoking. It does seem kind of hypacritical, but it would discrimmatory to not allow them admittance. You want to know what's really bad, seeing the respiratory therapy students stand outside and smoke! Lolz! Wow! To each his own though!

tjstrong · Mar 2, 2011

This is perhaps a first...a topic upon which ALL of the posters are in complete agreement.

Should give the OP some pause.

If you STILL think you have some sort of valid argument to make in such a paper, perhaps the best career for you would be something more in line with some insurance company/Govt. denial of service board...rather than actual nursing.

There is scholarship funding for such positions...it comes from Tobacco Company's... not directly mind you, it was confiscated from them in class action suits and is used to beat them up legislatively and in the press. Tens of millions HAVE to be spent from these funds and those mainly interested in tapping into that income to create their own jobs are now in charge of it. The "education" aspects from these funds seem to have made it to wherever it was YOU went to school.

Long before it became the "Great Bugaboo" ,smoking or at least the application of smoke/tobacco byproducts was often used as a medical treatment. I have an auction item saved on my computer, it is a medical device that utilizes a burner to create smoke that is then captured and passed through an enema tube...the origin of "blowing smoke up my ass" it didn't remain popular for long...but WAS used to some effect as a calming agent for "Hysterical" women for much longer than it remained as a treatment for the general population.

Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN · Mar 2, 2011

Remember the old days when there were white people and black people those who had slaves and those against it? We have come such a long way havent we? or have we? Now its about calling people stinky over ciggerett smoke? Your either a smoker or a non smoker? There no difference only because of the attitude people are taking against one or the other.

Did you really just compare slavery and cigarette smoking? Seriously? :eek:

srerrn2 · Mar 2, 2011

Have to agree with the other responders. Try to get all that judgemental attitude out of your system BEFORE you become a nurse. Otherwise, how are you going to provide compassionate care to the 450 lb patient or the patient with stage 4 lung cancer who has smoked 2 ppd x 40 years(and is still smoking).

As far as excluding other potential students from the program d/t smoking, I just can't say any more than others have already said. I am a smoker and I have so much to offer to the profession and my patients. I think it would have been a loss all around if I had not been "allowed" to become a nurse because I have a habit that is perfectly legal. Good luck in your chosen career and really try to get past your judgements. Maybe THAT could be your topic.

srerrn2 · Mar 2, 2011

Here are just a few - comon now wake up!
Fatty Food Fumes Could Be Dangerous : Discovery News
Is Teflon® Dangerous?
The Effects of Inhalation of Clorox Fumes | eHow.com
Frequently Asked Questions - Department of Health & Hospitals ...
The Department of Health and Hospitals protects and promotes health and ensures ... I can smell the oil. Is that dangerous? Nothing dangerous has been ...
Can Your Mattress Kill You? - Softpedia
Diesel fumes pose dangerous health risks, study shows
Fumes sicken people at Elgin apartments - Courier News
Remember the old days when there were white people and black people those who had slaves and those against it? We have come such a long way havent we? or have we? Now its about calling people stinky over ciggerett smoke? Your either a smoker or a non smoker? There no difference only because of the attitude people are taking against one or the other.
Google assault and smoking, select news, and start reading how many assaults are out there from non smokers against smokers now days! Wow pathetic indeed. I was personally told by a fellow fire fighter that he hoped I die of lung cancer and buried deep in the ground and this was said in front of his children outside no less!
Non smokers seem to be getting nastier and nastier now days.
Now they have 3rd hand smoke? are you serious lol! 3rd hand smoke amazing! Yes a smoker may stink after smoking, but you all forgot what it smelled like after getting off the public transportation of diesel smoke fumes, or the fumes from the gas pump after filling up your tank on your way to the hospitals! No one recognizes those "stink" smells anymore because your all focused on the big bad smoker.

:uhoh3: I don't want to discourage anyone from posting on this site but your answer really does not make much sense. To compare smokers/non-smokers to slaves/white people is strange. Also to compare the smell of smoke to the smell on someone after using public transportation is again off the mark. The question is whether smokers should be admitted to nursing school. :confused:

Overland1, RN · Mar 2, 2011

What disqualifies a smoker from learning to be an excellent nurse? What if that smoker quits during or after Nursing school and before applying for a job?

How about changing the topic of your speech to, "Should Smokers be Barred From Employment at a Hospital?" Many hospitals will not hire smokers and some are said to be firing smokers.

Rathyen · Mar 2, 2011

I read this post this morning on my iPhone as I sat outside smoking my morning cigarette. It made me laugh at the arrogance of the poster to assume that I make a lesser nurse because of my bad habit. I enjoy smoking and yes, I know it's bad for me, I know it will most likely kill me some day. It does not however affect my judgment when taking care of my patients. I'm good at what I do and the nicotine in my system has no bearing on that. Do I smell, maybe. Do I do everything in my power to not smell, yes, I do. Not a single nurse I work with knew I smoked until I told them I did. There are precautions you can take to reduce the lingering smell. Until it is illegal, what I do on my unpaid lunch break, or on my days off is none of your concern. If I choose to hike a quarter mile off of the hospital campus to smoke, that's my choice. I don't smoke around non-smokers, I don't smoke around my kids. I never ask someone to "watch my patients" while I take a smoke break that is not a legally required break by the labor standards. As someone stated earlier, that's an awefully high horse you're going to fall off of.

makingitright · Mar 2, 2011

Dear me...I have not commented here in a while, but this subject right here just seem to nag at me and rile me up and so I must put in my two cents worth.

The very idea of discriminating against someone because of a personal choice is ludicrous to me. The very idea that you would call someone who smokes a hypocrite is even more so. So are you saying that it is a given that people who do not smoke make better nurses? Seriously? And you know this how? Took a survey did you? So tell me then we begin with kicking smokers out of the nursing programs, who would go next? Someone who is fat, somebody who has a eccentric way of dress, someone you observe eats with their mouth open (annoying I know but...), someone you do not find particularly attractive or perhaps someone who's voice you do not find pleasant? I mean the possibilities are endless. There are people who should be kept out of nursing school for various reasons, but something as superfluous and nonsensical as smoking does not qualify. Valid reasons include a lack of compassion, lack of care, not being able to display empathy towards others, money hungry, in it for the title only, those who do not have the natural vocation for the craft, those are the people who should be weeded out, those are relevant causes to keep someone out of the profession. I have enumerated each of those because it not about my personal feelings, it is not about being subjectively positioned in one way or another, but it is because it is a known fact that people who do not display those key elements give the worst care and are a nightmare to work with.

Sigh...I am non smoker, and despite the fact that I loathe the smell of cigarettes, I could never say do not allow this person in because I hate the fact that they smoke. The reason why? It's because those are my personal feelings and has nothing to do with the care that person or those people could provide a patient with. This profession is not an easy one. It takes real heart to be a good nurse. Let's focus on that the heart of the nursing student, their intentions, intellectual capabilities and other such important aspects of the burgeoning student, for those qualities do matter and very much.

In closing there are numerous arguments that you could use to write a good paper, but this one in my humble opinion isn't one of them and to tell you the truth it comes of as a little trite, more than a little prejudiced and very much misinformed.

Poi Dog · Mar 2, 2011

Big deal if the person aspiring to be a nurse smokes. Who cares? If I am sick, I just want a competent, knowledgeable, and caring person to "fix" me. Should I have a sign on my care plan stating: patient refuses to be cared for by a smoker?

Seth O Scope · Mar 2, 2011

What I cant understand is how people who know and see first hand what smoking can do to a person still smoke. Sure you can say for the average joe "ignorance is bliss" but medical professionals don't have that. I mean if you saw someone jump into shark infested waters and get shredded would go "me too" and jump in after them. I guess no matter what people stick to that old matra "it's not going to happen to me".

Obviously everyone has the right chooose whether or not to smoke and as long as it doesnt affect their work as a nurse it should not determine who gets accepted to nursing school or gets hired by a hospital.