Both my parents smoked, my mom smoked through all her pregnancies, right up into labor and delivery.

I smoked in my teens. I quit  21 years ago. I still crave one on occasion. I just chose each time to not smoke.

It was not easy to quit, everyone in my family smoked. My husband smoked when we met, and still smokes today.

He thinks its great I quit. He says he wants to quit, but the patches caused side-effects and Wellbutrin did not work.

Chantix has its problems and I am concerned about the side- effects with it. A carton of cigarrettes is now $35-$40.

How do I feel about nurses and doctors who smoke? I am sad that they are addicted and wish I had an answer to the problem.

I do not look down on them, but I know they most likely wish they could quit for many reasons. Smokers are the new pariahs. It is now politically

correct to hate them and give them a hard time. I guess we ran out of other classes of people to denigrate.

I smoke and I have tried to quit a million times and each time I do I have something at work/home happen that stresses me out and I go back to smoking I dont smoke very much and I dont smoke around my cliants and 99% of them dont even know I smoke.  I am very aware that the smell is as anoying as the smoke its self..... I currently do NOT Smoke at work. at my old job I would during breaks because it was incredibally stressful.. I know it seems stupid for a nurse to smoke, but we are human and make our decisions, even if we know the conscquences  in the long run .

I am not a smoker and I will not preach to anyone that does.  It's their decision to smoke or not.  but I agree with a few of the other comments about smelling like an old ash tray while attenting to patients.  I worked at a clinic in which one of the nurses would have a smoke at lunch and came back with the worst butt breath.  If you're going to smoke, be kind to the people around you and eat a breath mint or two.  Your patients and co workers will thank-you.

Martini says ...

I am a smoker and I agree with you saying that a breath mint or two would help.  I try to be considerate and not smoke around nonsmokers. I use breath mints and before going back inside or into a facility, I try to spray my clothes down with a fabric freshner.  On the other hand, there are also people who eat onions and/or garlic for lunch, then come back to see patients and to tell you the truth, they could use a mint or two also.  Basically smokers are not the only ones that could do with a breath mint or two

I agree that it isn't just the smokers who need breath mints. Martini tries to be considerate and not smoke around non-smokers. As a non-smoker myself, who has never smoked, not even to "try it" as a kid, my biggest complaint about smokers is that most of them are not considerate of us non-smokers. Blowing smoke at us, not being careful of their ashes ect.  At work my complaint is different. going out to smoke is supposed to be part of your breaks and lunch. Smokers go out many times to smoke and then also want their breaks and lunch. This makes the non-smokers upset at the unequal treatment.

It amazes me that smokers complain a lot about things that are their choice. When it is raining or in the winter when there is snow coming down, they complain that there is no place for them to go to smoke...........there is a place, it is called outside. So what if it is cold or rainy, it is your choice to smoke.

Outlawing something. does not make it go away. Crack is outlawed, but people still use it, cocaine is outlawed, but people still use it. It would be the same with smoking. Besides as you mentined, there are a lot of investments in tobacco companies. And as everyone knows, money talks. The money would be spread around and no one in politics would go against them. Not if they wanted money for reelection.

I do not think that nonsmokers think they are better than smokers, but with all the knowledge of the bad health effects of smoking, many of us think we are better off than smokers.....health wise.

Smoking is a choice, so if you want to smoke please do, just be considerate of us that do not smoke........................and for the people who choose not to smoke, please be considerate of those that do.

MARTINI i KNOW EXACTLY HOW YOU FEEL

jawirt says ...

I think it is totally hypocritical of a nurse / doctor to smoke.

Why?. I don't smoke and never did, nor that I personally like it but everybody has likes and dislikes. I don't judge nobody for  smoking, drinking, eating or whatever else they need to relax and enjoy life. Not all people are the same and some do need to smoke to get rid off stress or may be they do it just for pleasure. Nobody is allowed to smoke in public places anyway, so we, the non smokers, have nothing to complain about.

If a doctor or nurse smokes and counsels other NOT to smoke.. the advice canot be dismissed on a logical basis... the message is just as true and valid.. to discount what they say is a logical fallacy.. specifically ad hominem tu quoque. 

I think I will stepoutside and fire up a cigar........ mmmmmm Macanudo......

Sevoflurane:  what you say is logical, but not how many patients think.  I am a non-smoker, and I have had many patients or family members complain to me about the nurse who lectures them about smoking while their clothing reeks of it.  Likewise I have had people in the community complain to me about "fat nurses" who educate about diets they clearly don't follow themselves.  We do set an example for our communities, and many of us set a poor one.

Swimmnutt:  I think more of your patients know you are a smoker than you would think.  Tobacco smoke clings to clothing and creates a reek that is unmistakable.  Often, I have to send those of my students who smoke to their cars to freshen up before I can allow them on the floor.  Often, I have to send them back for a second go round.

phew!

stink-a roo

I quit smoking 16 years ago.  Now, I chew a lot of gum.  I get flack for fricken chewing gum, not bubble gum, just gum.  I frequently lie to people on the phone, and tell them I'm eating, because I get less crap than if you say gum.   I try to chew after I eat for that 'minty fresh' breath, and toward the end of the shift.  I had someone at work that continuously busted my chops for chewing gum.  She was a smoker, one day while she was sneaking out to the parking lot to smoke (our entire campus is smokefree), I loudly went to the window and said, I think I'll call security on 'L', she can give up the smoking, and I'll give up the gum.   Well someone told her I said that (thank god, LOL), and she has never busted my chops about the darn gum again.  I chew my gum, and she smokes, and now we both are happy.

I think it is up to the person, should they say anything to the patients while they have smokes in their pocket, NO...

It takes 50,000pks lit simutaneously to get any carcinogen from second hand smoke.   Anything can kill you in large quantities so what is the difference....

Its a great calming factor. 

CATGIRL:

I don't know where you got your fact about how much 2nd hand smoke does damage but here's mine:

April 28, 2008 -- Just 30 minutes in a smoky room can cause profound blood vessel injury in healthy young adults, greatly increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease, according to a new study published in the May 6 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

The findings add to the growing body of evidence that suggests that there is no risk-free level of secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke, also called environmental tobacco smoke, contains an array of harmful chemicals, including nicotine, which have been shown to increase one’s risk for cardiovascular disease. Exposure to such smoke causes upwards of 50,000 heart disease deaths in adult nonsmokers every year in the United States, making it a major public health concern.  

Study author Christian Heiss, MD, currently affiliated with the University RWTH Aachen in Germany, and colleagues in California evaluated blood vessel function in healthy, young, nonsmoking adults after they were exposed to a half hour of secondhand smoke at levels commonly found in public smoking areas. The study participants also underwent similar evaluations after exposure to smoke-free air on a different day.

The researchers learned that in healthy nonsmokers, even brief exposure to secondhand smoke resulted in blood vessel dysfunction and interfered with the activity of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), which are believed to play a key role in repairing blood vessels. The damage to the EPCs appeared to last as long as a day.

"Taken together, these findings provide further evidence that even a very short period of passive smoke exposure has strong, persistent vascular consequences," the scientists write in the journal article.

Yes, as you say it has a calming factor, it is my experience that the dead are very calm.

We should all persevere to be as health minded as possible. We are HEALTH-CARE providers.We need to provide judgement free encouragement to our Patients as well as our collegues. This applies to smoking  or other forms of drug  addiction, overeating, alcohol  addiction etc.........   Believe me,for all who smoke, take this absolute from an ex-smoker; Quit !  By Any Means Necessary. It is well worth the effort. The total body improvements are absolute, as well as the self esteem improvement.