I know smoking is an addiction and it can be hard to quit, but I just read something in another post that put this on my mind, because I know exactly what they are talking about.
I started training a new nurse not long ago. Up until last week I rarely to never took a break out on the porch. Since I started training this nurse, it's always "let's go out and smoke." The first time I told her I don't smoke, so she says "come sit with me anyway." So, I went. She will ask me to come out on the porch with her so she can smoke and I may as well because I can't really show her the ropes if I'm not with her.
I know for a fact all these smoke breaks cuts down on production because since I have started training and working with her I've quit what I'm doing so many times and felt annoyed walking away from it. She even wants me to sit with her and smoke when the shift ends and I want to go home.
I guess it sounds like I'm coming down hard on smokers, maybe I am. I just see what a horrible cycle it is. It seems like seeing people inside on oxygen dying from emphysema would phase them as they are out there puffing away (and there are a lot of them who do) but it doesn't.
Do you notice this where you work? Or am I just too uptight?
I have worked with a few smokers and they tend to be the only people who find the time to take their 15 minute morning and afternoon break. We are all entitled to them, but most of us work through them because there just isn't enough time in the day to get everything done and take breaks.
I worked with one smoker who had very specific times she felt she needed to get out and take her break. It didn't seem to matter what was happening; she was out the door to get her fix. I found that incredibly annoying.
Actually, I admire this about smokers. They always make time for their breaks. We should all emulate that, without the smoking of course!
As far as the original post, I think the OP should be the one calling the shots. She is being a pushover and letting her orientee dominate her, it sounds like to me.
As far as smoking, I think smokers smell like ashtrays. I don't like that smell, but on the other hand I try to be tolerant since we all have faults.
Sounds to me like someone needs to set limits on her smoke breaks. I don't smoke, but like you, if someone wants to poison their body, who am I to stand in their way. I poison mine with sugar and caffiene and no one says anything, however, I don't let it run my life or interrupt my work.
She may not know(or care) about how much time she is taking when on the "porch". I have a co-worker who is a heavy smoker (despite that we are in a no-smoking facility/campus) who trained another heavy smoker. They both requests the assignments that put them closer to the ground floor so that they can take breaks easier. They both call some one frequently to help them catch up on their work. I was the person who always helped them out, because I couldn't stand the thought of the patients waiting for the help to arrive. It should be interesting to see what happens now that I and the other nurse that helps them out have transferred to another unit.
My co-worker straightened up for a short time when it was brought up during her peer review that she took frequent breaks and left calls for the next shift. :imbar In time, she will go bakc to her old ways. My opinion is if people can get away with inappropriate behavior, they will until someone ties a knot in their tail.
If she is new, won't she have a 90 day review? Normally the preceptor gives input, I would (and have) said something.
Yes, she will be someone elses problem, but they may hold you partially responsible if you were her preceptor.
I am not a smoker but am the daughter of a mother who has inoperable lung cancer...and lived in a house for 26 years with both mother and father who smoked like chimneys....so from that you can probably tell where I stand on the whole smoking thing. 2 of my sisters and myself are now on inhalers. Anyway.....I agree you are being way too nice. At a hospital that I recently visited a friend at they had huge signs that there was no smoking on hospital grounds including the grounds that the medical offices are on next door to the hospital. Your work doesn't have this as well? Maybe it is a NY thing.
If you don't smoke don't go out there. Then you smell like smoke and breathing the second hand smoke etc. I am actually kind of shocked that this girl who is still in training is taking so many breaks. I would think that she would be doing everything she could to make a good name for herself not the other way around. If she is changing the way you want to do your job then you need to say no and you have work to do. Don't let someone else change the way you would normally perform your job. If you wouldn't do it if she wasn't there then why start now that she is there? Just my 2 cents.
People usually put their best foot forward when they start a new job. If this is her best foot, then I wonder what she'll be like when she's settled in and feels secure in her position?
tell her that so many smoke breaks is not acceptable
most hospitals in our area do not allow smoking any where on the premises so she is lucky that she has a place where smoking is accepted at all
congrats to all the ex-smokers out there, i smoked for more years than most of you have been alive, sometimes i still miss it but i am very glad that i quit
I think she is probably going out there because you allow her to. You have specific break times or you need to make them. Just because she smokes doesn't mean she doesn't need a break before you. I see people who are orienting with others who just keep going and going. some don't go to lunch until 3 or so, the poor ones training think they have to follow the same way. So tell her specific break times and what is allowed by the facility then you can not go with her. you are not obligated to go.
People usually put their best foot forward when they start a new job. If this is her best foot, then I wonder what she'll be like when she's settled in and feels secure in her position?
I agree with the first response. I, too, am addicted to nicotine, but it's no excuse to shirk duty esp. when it comes to patient care. I can't count the number of times I have gone over half a shift without the opportunity for a smoke break. If I am having a horrendous shift and just have to get away for 5 mins, I always find somebody who can cover for me; it's unthinkable to think that a patient may be lying in pain or needing something that only I or another nurse can do while I'm outside puffing away. Smokers like your example make all smokers look lazy and irresponsible. IMHO, nothing wrong with saying "We are allocated 15 minutes for breaks every 4 hours and we need to make sure everything is caught up before leaving the floor and I do not care to be around secondhand smoke." It is possible that she really doesn't know how much of a time-suck her smoking is and just needs it pointed out to her.
FireStarterRN, BSN, RN
3,824 Posts
Actually, I admire this about smokers. They always make time for their breaks. We should all emulate that, without the smoking of course!
As far as the original post, I think the OP should be the one calling the shots. She is being a pushover and letting her orientee dominate her, it sounds like to me.
As far as smoking, I think smokers smell like ashtrays. I don't like that smell, but on the other hand I try to be tolerant since we all have faults.