Wow They Are Really Serious - smokers not hired

Nurses General Nursing

Published

....About employees not smoking!!!

I just applied for a Student Nurse Associate position at a hospital affiliated with the organization that runs all the big hospitals in my area- (basically everyone in my state who works in healthcare has at one time done some training at one of the hospitals or worked for the hospitals) and even before I even filled out the application online a huge notification pops up that reads something like

ATTENTION YOU MUST ANSWER THE QUESTION ABOUT TOBACCO USE, as of 1/1/2012 X WILL NO LONGER HIRE USERS OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS

it was in a huge box in big red letters

I just found this interesting because I am a former smoker and just quit about 2 years ago. I want to hear what you guys think.

Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

FB passwords? That is one I have not seen.

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Specializes in ICU.

Several years ago the Coca Cola Co. here started testing for nicotine. If you came up positive you were fired. A law-suit ensued and the company won because they were able to prove that health care costs of smokers was much higher than non smokers, causing increased costs to the company. The only stipulation the courts put in was those hired before the new policy were "grandfathered in." I imagine if the "fat cats" were not mostly overweight they would also have implemented a CHO test also.

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Smoking is best way to relax ourself if it will not cause lung problems.even I am a girl and I still think like that .

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Specializes in ICU.
I disagree. I don't think ANY of those things should be criteria for non-hire, including smoking. I do think the employers should be able to regulate what is done while on campus.

Just to clarify, I meant if they decide to disallow and monitor smokers, they need to be fair across the board to the other "unhealthy" activities. I am not saying the actually need to monitor people's eating and weight. Just making a point how if the hospitals are going to try to control one legal unhealthful activity, they need to monitor them all.

And I have no problems with making it a smoke free campus. Just don't tell me what to do at home, off the clock.

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Specializes in hospice.

I am only able to say this because I am anonymous on here. I know that this is not a popular opinion.

If the respiratory component of your nursing training didn't motivate you to at least try to quit smoking, I have to question your critical thinking ability. Also, if your hair and clothing smell like smoke, how can you expect to be a good role model for patients?

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" they claim that smokers have higher absentee rates, but you would never know that if you saw my history!"

logical fallacy. anecdote is not the singular of data. there are many, many, many epidemiological studies identifying smoking as a risk factor for disease.

also, you don't give your age or for how many pack-years you've been using tobacco, but as you age, your risk will increase. your lungs can compensate for just so long before you begin to notice it (though others may notice it before you do).

"if they decide to disallow and monitor smokers, they need to be fair across the board to the other "unhealthy" activities."

another logical fallacy. no, they don't have to do anything of the kind.they may decide to control for one risk factor if they choose.

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.
Smoking is best way to relax ourself if it will not cause lung problems.even I am a girl and I still think like that .

Huh?? What does being a girl have to do with it? And smoking does cause lung problems. This post confuses me. I am not sure what it has to do with the ethics/legality of governing what employees do on their own time.

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Specializes in ICU.

I see your logic even if I don't agree with it completely. I don't see how someone that you, a patient, have contact with for a few hours, a nurse, can be considered a role model.

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Specializes in ICU.

Again, I'll clarify. It's not "need", it's "should" monitor for other unhealthy activities.

It's like the government regulating out birth control.

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Specializes in Emergency/Cath Lab.

What about the people who partake in a nice Hookah session every so often? What do those nicotine levels show up as?

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, people with past foreclosures and repossessions, workers with gaps on their employment history, and others will be targets. I can see it coming to a corporation near you!

This has already become a reality to one of the biggest chain of hospitals in my area. Let's just say checking for credit scores now a days is an understatement to job seekers who do need employment to get back on their feet. How are they suppose to fix something if they are not given the opportunity?

What about the people who partake in a nice Hookah session every so often? What do those nicotine levels show up as?

LOL. i guess it depends on the flavor of the month that they've chosen.

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Specializes in ICU.

I do not smoke, therefore I don't have a dog in this hunt, but smokers have been considered outcasts for years.

I am not aware of the gov't regulating birth control.

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