Smoking and the Nursing Student

[RainbowDash]

Hello!

As part of my "be healthy before you can tell other people to be healthy" venture, I want to give up smoking once and for all. I have quit FOUR times (one for each pregnancy), only to go back after baby is born due to stress and all surrounding family being smokers. I am well aware that it is a disgusting and potentially lethal habit - I want to make it go away, once and for all.

My question for you: do you smoke? Are you an ex smoker? How did you quit? What helped, and what was worthless? Any suggestions?

Thanks!

-RD

[zieglarf, LVN]

Hello!

As part of my "be healthy before you can tell other people to be healthy" venture, I want to give up smoking once and for all. I have quit FOUR times (one for each pregnancy), only to go back after baby is born due to stress and all surrounding family being smokers. I am well aware that it is a disgusting and potentially lethal habit - I want to make it go away, once and for all.

My question for you: do you smoke? Are you an ex smoker? How did you quit? What helped, and what was worthless? Any suggestions?

Thanks!

-RD

You already know how to quit - you've done it four times. Just don't go back to it when you get stressed. Most ex-smokers (including me) end up eating more and gaining weight. Find something else to do when you stress - walk, dance, meditate - whatever works for you without putting anything in your mouth; cigarette or food.

[PinkCupcake]

You sound a lot like myself. I too quit smoking during my pregnancy only to start back up again due to stress. I'm taking Chantix right now and it has helped me a TON!!! I love this stuff. I'm at the point where I don't even want a cigarette. Sometimes I do have very strange dreams but I think it's kinda fun, mine are usually boring so I don't mind lol.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to try quitting while in school due to the stress but I figured that there are always going to be stressful moments in life and there will never be the "perfect" time to quite. "Too much stress" was always my go to excuse and I figure if I can quit now with this kind of stress I'll be golden.

It's only been a week for me but I already can taste and smell better and my lungs are starting to clean themselves out...yuck!!!

It's not easy but I know in the long run it'll be worth it.

When I have cravings...which I don't anymore thanks to the Chantix, I would go for a walk or read a book because those are things I love to do. Brushing my teeth was a big help too. The Chantix has made all the difference for me. Some people hate it while others love it. I personally know many people who have quit using it. I tried the cold turkey thing so many times I lost count! Of course there are plenty of people than can quit cold turkey, I wasn't one of them.

[PinkCupcake]

You already know how to quit - you've done it four times.

I know personally for me the only reason I was able to quit smoking when I was pregnant was because it the smell, taste, and thought of smoking made me nauseous so it made it VERY easy to quit. I didn't want ANYTHING to do with cigarettes.

Once I had my kids that went away. I was able to be around smoke with out feeling like I was going to :barf01:and one day I was VERY stressed out, bought a pack and I was back to smoking.

This time I'm quitting because I want to not because I have to.

[rubato, ASN, RN]

EWWWW no i don't smell like an ashtray

i am VERYYY weird about that haha

when i smoke in my car on the way to clinicals I dont even wear my top

my scrubs are always freshly washed and starched hours before too

so they smell pretty

LOL

But good for you for quiting! now gimme some of that will power!

I must concur with the others. You just don't know it. I was always careful about smoking. Never indoors, windows all down in the car, hair up even because I worried that it would get in my hair. Of course, all my clothing was clean. I also used Altoids, gum, perfume and anything I could find to make myself not smell like smoke. Guess what, I still did.

When I meet someone and shake their hand, I can tell whether they smoke or not. They have an odor of stale cigarettes but they can't smell it.

[Stcroix, ASN, PhD, RN]

OP, I smoked like a chimney, a serious addict. You ask what helped to quit, for me it was having my kids. I decided that I didn't want to have them smoke my cigarettes or be exposed to the habit. You say you've quit multiple times, so quitting isn't your problem. Starting back up is your problem. You have to have a real reason, a commitment, as to why you won't start again. What will that be for you? Find that, believe it, and you will be successful. Good luck.

[zieglarf, LVN]

...and one day I was VERY stressed out, bought a pack and I was back to smoking.

That's the thing. The stress WILL come sooner or later but DON'T get a smoke - do something else to relieve it.

When I quit I bummed a cigarette about 6 months after - for the hell of it - and my chest hurt the rest of the day and I could smell the stink all day too.

[Jory, MSN, APRN, CNM]

If you can quit during pregnancy, then you can quit again.

Reaching for a cigarette for stress is no different than someone popping a pill or grabbing an alcoholic drink...it's the belief that you cannot handle stress without a substance.

I worked with a nurse once that I was helping her admit her patient, which for us, would take about an hour or longer to finish everything. She stopped in the middle of everything and said, "OMG, I can't take this....I have to go down and smoke"...as soon as she came back up, I said, "Ok, looks like you have it under control.." and I walked away. If she had time to smoke, she had time to do the admission herself.

You may think that your classmates cannot smell your smoke, but smokers don't understand that the stench lingers and non-smokers can pick up on it in a skinny minute. Yes, you think you don't smell, but trust me, I bet you do.

For those of you that are students....seriously, quit before you start working in the hospital. You won't get along with the staff well if you have to go out for smoke breaks and sometimes you get tied up for hours and no, nobody is going to let you leave if they need you in the unit. Many hosptals have smoking policies that you cannot smoke even in the car, because it is a hardship to those with allergies and respiratory disorders. Some are so strict you can lose your job for it if you get repeated cited.

Not worth it folks.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

EWWWW no i don't smell like an ashtray

i am VERYYY weird about that haha

when i smoke in my car on the way to clinicals I dont even wear my top

my scrubs are always freshly washed and starched hours before too

so they smell pretty

LOL

But good for you for quiting! now gimme some of that will power!

I'm gonna have to agree with everyone else here... you smell like it, you just don't know it. I can smell a smoker a mile away, it doesn't matter how freshly washed their clothes are or how much perfume they are wearing. I don't smoke and never have but when I worked in the hospital, we would frequently have patients complain about the nurses who smoked (because they could ALWAYS smell it too)... not really fair to a nauseous 4 year old on chemo to have to smell his nurse all night. And if patients are constantly complaining about their nurse's stench or requesting for that nurse to not care for their child, the hospital may very well do something about it. If I were a parent of a child in the hospital or a patient in the hospital myself and I was assigned a nursing student who came in smelling like cigarettes, I would undoubtedly request that this person not care for me.

OP, I applaud your decision. There is a big push for hospitals going smoke-free now-a-days and some have even gone as far to test for nicotine and deny jobs to smokers. At my old hospital, health insurance for smokers cost significantly more than it did for non-smokers and if a smoker lied about their tobacco use when they signed up for health insurance and the hospital found out about it, it was grounds for termination. Now's a good a time as any to quit!

[Jory, MSN, APRN, CNM]

I'm gonna have to agree with everyone else here... you smell like it, you just don't know it. I can smell a smoker a mile away, it doesn't matter how freshly washed their clothes are or how much perfume they are wearing. I don't smoke and never have but when I worked in the hospital, we would frequently have patients complain about the nurses who smoked (because they could ALWAYS smell it too)... not really fair to a nauseous 4 year old on chemo to have to smell his nurse all night.

You are absolutely right. Smokers never seem to think you can smell it on them.

[On_the_on, BSN]

Hello!

As part of my "be healthy before you can tell other people to be healthy" venture, I want to give up smoking once and for all. I have quit FOUR times (one for each pregnancy), only to go back after baby is born due to stress and all surrounding family being smokers. I am well aware that it is a disgusting and potentially lethal habit - I want to make it go away, once and for all.

My question for you: do you smoke? Are you an ex smoker? How did you quit? What helped, and what was worthless? Any suggestions?

Thanks!

-RD

I just finished week two of not smoking and week one of nursing school. I knew it was going to be impossible to smoke during clinicals so I am trying to get right now! :) You can do this! I am using the nicotine gum because it seems like it is the only thing that helps me. Good luck!

[rubato, ASN, RN]

I just finished week two of not smoking and week one of nursing school. I knew it was going to be impossible to smoke during clinicals so I am trying to get right now! :) You can do this! I am using the nicotine gum because it seems like it is the only thing that helps me. Good luck!

Congratulations! Great job so far. It'll get easier, I promise.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

I know that some of the PPs already mentioned this, but many hospitals simply do not hire smokers any more. They require you to attest to the fact that you are a non-smoker as part of the employment application. They also do random checks for nicotine, just like any other 'forbidden' substances. If they discover that you are just trying to pass as a non-smoker, you'll be terminated.