Students Smoking During Clinical Hours

[lglnurse]

I just recently started as a med/surg clinical instructor for an LPN program. I wanted to get opinions about whether or not these nursing students should be allowed to smoke during clinical hours when they are in the uniform. I understand that smoking can be an addiction, and that going 12 hours without a cigarette may be difficult for most, but they come to clinical stinking of smoke, and I can smell it throughout the day. This is despite their best efforts to hide the odor with Febreze, mints or whatever. That just doesn't work. I would think it has to bother the patients, and it is setting a very poor example and I think it is unprofessional. I used to smoke when I was in nursing school, but my instructors would have shot me dead if I came to clinical smelling like cigarettes.

Any thoughts and opinions are welcome....

[ktwlpn, LPN]

If the employees at the clinical sites can smoke then I don't see why the students can't do so on their breaks.Stress hygiene with them (all the things you have mentioned) I really don't care what the students do on their breaks at the LTC I am working in-what does bother me is seeing a student sitting behind the nurse's station reading the newspaper-or several students having a loud conversation there.Or numerous interruptions during my med pass when the instructor is on the unit.I have had to introduce numerous students to the chart and the care plan.So many seem to want to be spoon fed info-please teach them how to find the info they need.

[ChristineN, BSN, RN]

I am a nursing student in my last semester and I am also a smoker. If students are asking you for special "smoke breaks" then you have every right to say no, or if you say yes, you need to give the non-smokers a break too in order to be fair. However, if they are going out for a smoke on their lunch break, I don't see what the issue is. It's their own time to do what they will be it eat lunch, study, smoke, etc. I smoke before I go into clinicals in the morning, and then I smoke at lunch. If I'm with an instructor that gives us a mid-morning break, I may go out, otherwise, I can wait. FYI: all the facilities I have done clinical at are "smoke free" facilities, but staff, students, and pts get around it by going off hospital grounds to smoke (we walk to the sidewalk). So, even if the facility's smoke free, you may not be able to stop them.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

The issue is this: many patients find the smell of smoke repulsive and nasty. This instructor probably wants her students to present a more positive image. We cannot expect people to give up smoking, even people who "should know better", but there is some truth in the fact that asthmatics and others do not appreciate the smell. I believe everyone deserves a break and what they do on their break is their business, within reason.

[justavolunteer]

I am 'justavolunteer' on a pt. unit. What I have heard about some nursing programs in my area is that no one is allowed to smell of smoke during clinicals. If a person does, they get booted out of that session & are counted as absent (missing clinicals = REALLY big deal, I'm told). Also, a lot of hospitals have said no smoking anywhere on the grounds by ANYONE (visitors, staff, volunteers, anyone!). If the latter is the case at hospitals in your area, that will solve a whole lot of trouble.

[VickyRN, MSN, DNP, RN]

We do not allow students to smoke during their breaks. But, our clinical facility is entirely smoke-free and a huge campus, so this is a moot point for us. We also do not allow a student to "smell of smoke" or other strong fragrances upon arrival to clinical.

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

When I was in clinical, students were not allowed to smoke at all.

(I am not a smoker and I can say that people still reek of smoke regardless of what they do).

steph

[iteachob, MSN, RN]

At our school students are never allowed to smoke while in uniform.....it's a written policy. Not only that, but our main clinical site (a regional medical center) has a no smoking policy in force for their entire property......and this is in Kentucky (unfortunately known for our love of tobacco)!

[elkpark]

I've found that more and more hospitals that serve as clinical facilities are going to the no-smoking-whatsoever-by-anyone policies, and my students have had to sign forms at those facilities documenting that they understand that, if they are caught smoking on the campus, PERIOD, they will be banned from the facility and not be allowed to complete the clinical rotation (or return in the future for other clinical rotations).

[locolorenzo22, BSN, RN]

we are expected to abide by the rules of clinical facilities and both hospitals in town have strict full-campus no smoking rules, due to the IL non-smoking laws....It got so bad that one of my fellow students missed a lot of bonding time because she always had to drive wherever we went for lunch...even if we all were just walking down the road....and we all knew it was because she needed to smoke, and she smelled of it when we saw her again....so go figure.

Smokers are people too, but the right for patients to not be subjected to that supersedes that....

[sdprcrn]

Students in uniform at clinical sites are always supposed to maintain a 'professional image and demeanor', this includes those times when they are on break and having a cigarette. Smoking is not unprofessional, it is sometimes regarded as unattractive. Also considered unattractive are those nurses with long artificial nails, door knocker earrings, and strong perfume. I have had to refuse to get on elevators because the colognes and perfume odors were so strong it made me choke up. Often this was from a visitors cologne or perfume. Lay off the students that want to use their break to smoke just as you would lay off the students who choose to use their break time reading magazines or making their personal phone calls.

[Atheos]

If you sign a contract to not smoke during clinicals you are stuck.

Tell them to wear a patch and chew gum. While 12 hours without a cigarette can be hard, it is doable. Plus, if the student is kept really busy it may slip their mind.