Smoking

Nurses General Nursing

Published

  1. How many nurses smoke?

    • 91
      Yes, and I don't hide the fact.
    • 52
      Yes, but I sometimes feel guilty being a nurse who smokes.
    • 14
      Yes, but I don't advertise the fact at work.
    • 21
      Yes, but I don't smoke while I'm at work.
    • 6
      Yes, but not cigarettes...heheheh
    • 46
      No, but to each his own.
    • 48
      No, I think it's unprofessional for nurses to smoke.
    • 114
      No, but I realize that nurses are human too and have their vices.

392 members have participated

Just curious to know how many nurses smoke (or at least admit to it)!

Specializes in Cardiac/Vascular & Healing Touch.

will you be my nurse? I agree with you & I really dislike the smell of smoke & cheap purfume even on my massage therapist. ;)

i'm sorry...i'm very sensitive to smoke and there's not enough handwashing, perfume, gum, etc that can mask that smell :o

i also don't wear perfume, hair products, etc that have a smell when i'm around patients..

sorry, just had to respond and represent some of the non-smokers :)

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Oh, how I wish......

Here's my story,

I started smoking when I was 18 or 19 (somewhere around there anyways!)

I finally quit with my third pregnancy last year (March) then for some odd reason, decided I needed to start again when my FIL died in November. And let me say, there is no good reason for starting again! I am soooo mad at myself for it! I hide in the basement and outside and only do it when Bryan isn't home because he would shoot me. I take a shower before he comes home and brush and gargle and all that baloney. I HATE IT AND ME! I stopped again for the month of February and now I am back at it again. Granted, I am waaaay down to only 5 or 6 a day, but it still sucks! It is the worst habit to kick and I am really wanting to do it again. I soooo wish that I had the dang willpower. I was doing so great and screwed it all up last November.

:o

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I hate smoking, can't stand the smell, expense, health risks. BUT I'M A SMOKER!

Go Figure! I have tried everything, patches, anti-depressants, hypnosis. Nothing works for me, I can't handle the stress of trying not to smoke. I'm in nursing school and have made a vow to myself to never work in the hospital as a smoker, I have 2 1/2 years left to quit. I'm got to do it somehow. So I understand how bad it is, and my mother smokes, which scares me to death, because I lost my dad to a heart attack, I don't want to lose my mom too!

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I hate it hate it hate it!!! And the stigma attached to it is wretched. You know the one - smokers deserve lung cancer because they should have known better. I lost my mom to small cell lung cancer - she was addicted. She smoked since she was 15 and died when she was only 48. It's horrible. Politicians get such HUGE amounts of money from Big Tobacco - so it's here to stay. I once saw a woman getting chemo leave the Infusion Room to go have a cigarette - and rolled her drip with her. What a horrible sight it was.

I have quit four times for periods of 6+ months. I get overwhelmed and in spite of all the warnings - in spite of losing loved ones to cigarettes, I still do it. It's not a matter of "knowing better" - It's a matter of one having an addiction. There are no rehabs for smokers. No "smokers anonymous." At least not where I live.

Does anyone know of anything like this? Some people need help - because they CAN'T do it on their own - no matter how bad they want to.

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THere is a good site called whyquit.com and I know that our local hospitals run support groups, but they cost whopping money for the most part (course if I quit for good again, I'd be saving way more than what I would spend on the support group...just don't have the money upfront!)

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Specializes in Prof. Development, New Grad. Residency.

Relating to the choices of response in the survey: I wouldn't choose to describe it as "unprofessional", but I think it impairs the nurse's credibility, teaching pts. about a healthy lifestyle.!

And, as far as smoking being the only way you can deal with a crazy shift, why not just cope with it the way us non-smokers have to (talking, meditation, coffee,whatever works)??? Non-smokers do not appreciate that smokers are MIA more often, while the rest are holding down the fort.

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I find that MORE nurses smoke now than ever it seems.... I work the night shift, and they go for "breathing treatments" at least 4 times a shift, for anywheres from 20-45 minutes each time.... AGGRAVATES me no end.... I have stopped offering to HELP any of them who cries about being BEHIND!!!!

I am sorry, I just think they need to get their priorities straight!

At our last Welness fair for employees I learned that if one stopped a pack a day habit they could save almost enough for a down payment on a car!!!

When a SINGLE pack cost a person $4.50 I have to wonder about their sanity!!!

My money is HARD earned, and I want to spend it on MORE than future health problems caused by cigaretts!!!

~Kathy~

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Specializes in Cardiac/Vascular & Healing Touch.

you have it right. I work with folks who do the same. It seems they travel in packs as well, whatever is going on.. they still need that smoke break...uuhhhgghh!

I find that MORE nurses smoke now than ever it seems.... I work the night shift, and they go for "breathing treatments" at least 4 times a shift, for anywheres from 20-45 minutes each time.... AGGRAVATES me no end.... I have stopped offering to HELP any of them who cries about being BEHIND!!!!

I am sorry, I just think they need to get their priorities straight!

At our last Welness fair for employees I learned that if one stopped a pack a day habit they could save almost enough for a down payment on a car!!!

When a SINGLE pack cost a person $4.50 I have to wonder about their sanity!!!

My money is HARD earned, and I want to spend it on MORE than future health problems caused by cigaretts!!!

~Kathy~

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Specializes in Med-Surg, LTC,LTAC,Corrections.

With the help of a popular nicotine patch I was able to kick the habit nearly 9 years ago. The first thing I realized after quitting in the first 2 weeks was the lessening of the "smokers cough", which plagued me constantly. I had been a smoker for 10 years or so at that time. I also realized what I was putting my family thru with the second hand smoke, and the smell that would permeate my clothes after smoking.I was not too aware of the odor myself until I had quit and smelled it on others. It's nice to wear cologne these days and actually be able to smell it. Attempting to quit is an individual thing, and requires a good bit of will power to succeed, I had the will power, those little patches just made the process quicker. And its also nice to have the extra money in pocket too.....fortunately I had quit right before the big price increase in cigarettes.

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Relating to the choices of response in the survey: I wouldn't choose to describe it as "unprofessional", but I think it impairs the nurse's credibility, teaching pts. about a healthy lifestyle.!

And, as far as smoking being the only way you can deal with a crazy shift, why not just cope with it the way us non-smokers have to (talking, meditation, coffee,whatever works)??? Non-smokers do not appreciate that smokers are MIA more often, while the rest are holding down the fort.

As a smoker, I must tell you that I usually take only one break per 12 hr shift.

And...I have never received a personal phone call at work. Not once. I work with many non-smokers who receive non-stop personal phone calls, and others who hide in the bathroom to get off of the floor, and such.

Not all smokers take excessive breaks. When I am charge, I often have to talk to my co-workers, smokers and non-smokers alike, and remind them that they can only leave the floor on their scheduled breaks.

I lead by example. I never take an extra break to smoke.

However, I'm often left "holding down the fort" for many non-smokers.

Please do not generalize smokers as doing less work than others.

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I don't smoke and never have, but my parents both smoked. My father finally quit several years before he died. My mother I watch struggle with smoking. She even got the chewing gum that was out several years ago to help stop. She would even smoke and chew the gum. She really struggled with this up till the day she died of an MI.People wonder how it is that my brother nor myself every started smoking, although our parents did. It is a matter of choice but I think we as nurses need to set an example for other to have a healthy life style. I work on a Cardiac stepdown unit where some nurses go out to smoke. It's sad but I understand the struggles that people have with it. I try to support and not be critical, because nicotine is very addicting.

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Specializes in Critical Care / Psychiatry.

The best thing that I can do for my fellow workers who smoke is to be supportive and to accept them for who they are! I don't smoke but I'm not on any high horse because of it. My husband smokes and I am thankful that I have been given a glimpse into the addiction from his point of view. Smokers KNOW how bad it is for them. They feel enormous GUILT for themselves and for their loved ones. They TRY to quit and live with the failure. Isn't that enough punishment? Why make it worse?

Shel

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