Let me begin by saying that I am an ex-smoker (20+ years), have been quit about 8 yrs. 

My problem with SOME smokers is that at my last facility, you could NEVER find anybody if you needed them.  85% of the nurses were smokers (this includes admin., support staff, CNAs, etc.) and they were always outside smoking.  We were authorized a 15 min. break in am, a  30 min. lunch, a 15 min. break in pm after lunch.  They took these AND at least one or two other "smoke breaks" in between these scheduled breaks while the non smoking nurses took up the slack yet again.  If there was an emergency, we always knew to send someone to the smoke patio to find someone AUTOMATICALLY.   This should be the exception, not the rule.  And some can't go smoke without saying to 3 or 4 others  "come on, let's go grab a smoke."  So then again, you have even MORE staff off the floor.......... I don't care who smokes as long as you take the same number of breaks as all the other staff and don't expect special treatment just because you are a smoker.  Just my opinion!

I can't believe the poll results were so close!  But...everyone has a right to his/her opinion.   I admit that through the whole 25 years I was a Respiratory Therapist, I smoked.  My rationale: "At least I know what it's doing to me."  I finally quit cold turkey 3 years ago, and haven't wanted to start again.  However, I am now one of those PIA ex-smokers who can smell a doused cigarette a block away.  

I even lectured a complete stranger about smoking.  He was "semi-homeless" and in the grocery store parking lot asking for help to get the $3.75 he needed for a bus pass.  I told him that what I gave him was not for alcohol or cigarettes.  He then admitted that he did smoke, but the money was going to be used for the bus pass.  I asked how much the (almost new) pack of cigarettes in his pocket had cost.  $4.75.  THEN I let him have it (in a nice way).  First, did he realize if he hadn't bought the smokes, he'd have had his bus pass money with $1 left over?  Next, my introduction as a nurse, former RT, and ex-smoker.  Finally, "The Lecture".  I had an rebuttal for every one of his reasons for smoking...I'd had all those reasons myself at one time...no, several times.  I doubt it did any good, but I felt better for having tried.

I guess it's your life.  Smoke if you want to, but if you're telling your patients not to smoke, quit yourself, you hypocrite.  (See, I told you I'm a PIA!)  I finally quit, and that smelly, coughing, now-extra-wrinkly smoker has gone on permanent vacation!  Now I use my mouth for talking too much and my hands for typing too much! 

Martini, if you're still around two months after your post...have you quit yet?  If you (or anyone else) are interested, I have a couple of hints.

I say do what you preach...be healthy...do not smoke if it really cause illness (emphyzema? lung cancer? etc.) to you and to others.  Some people at work do not realize how bad they cough, how unsanitary, how yucky to listen to cough like lung is going to come out, plus the smell of smoke.

The decision to smoke is made  when it seemed to be the best thing to do at the time-look cool,fit in, relieve stress while in med school or nursing education etc. The time to quit will follow in the same manner and at the rate of that person's desire to succeed. When my girls were little they hated coming home from seeing their paternal grandparents. They were the only smokers on both sides of the family. Neither of their own kids smoked. Then the day came when GP was dx with oral cancer. The dentist found a small spot under his tongue during routine teeth cleaning. After seeing ENT and oral surgeon he had a right radical neck.  It was so disfiguring that his dtr started screeming the first time she saw him post op. Still his wife smoked and so did he right up to his death. He was also an alcoholic and continued with that until he could no longer swallow. Still you would think after my dtrs distaste of smelling like smoke when they came home would steer them away as teens. Even the memories of GP missing the lower half of the right side of his face didn't make then hesitate. Both have allergy induced asthma. Once the peer pressure began that is all it took for them to "forget" and decide to take up smoking. It breaks my heart to see them smoke. I have given them both the tools and directions to get help to quit,but only they can take that journey. My wish is that they don't wait too long.

The best thing a doctor or nurse can do when counciling a pt to quit is admit that they too smoke and understand how hard it is to quit. PCP could even start an office support group for the dr,staff and pts who want to quit. Working together not only will help the dr,staff and the pts,but they may find  increase pt cooperation in their own care for other healh issues too.

No I don't like it when I work with smokers. Covering their pt load while they are gone,tracking them down during an emergency and when they come back..I get to wheeze. I'm allergic to cigarette smoke.

I don't agree with non-campus smoking. When the staff have to leave the campus it is even longer to get them back to the unit when disaster strikes. Unfortunately that is becoming more the norm these days. All it would take is a drive by shooting or a wreck and a good number of staff is gone-during the work shift. I really don't think that issue was address when they came up with that brilliant idea. The downside of that issue was made by the voters. The voters made it the law, not the hospitals. My hospital had made designated smoking areas out of the way of visitors, so they did not see drs or nurses smoking. Smelling them..whole 'nother issue.

Nurse_John says ...

What can really be done about people who smoke. They come up with a million reasons that they have to smoke. If they wanted to quit, they would. So I think it is best to leave them alone, let them deal with being hypocritical when advising patients to stop smoking and let them deal with their health problems.

Actually because a person smokes is no reason they cannot argue against smoking... this is a specific fallacy of logic... a subset of the ad hominem fallacy called "Tu quoque" Because a person smokes.. it does not discount any argument they will present against smoking.. the facts of the argument do not change regardless of the actions of the presenter.

I totally understand the reasoning, but somehow, I don't see Drs. and nurses who smoke as anything different than any other person who smokes.  There is a person who likes to smoke, period...end of story.  I guess if they were seeing patients while having Bronchitis, then, it would bother me.

This just came up the other day. We were at my son's baseball game talking to other parents about pro athletes and how they are role models for kids whether they want to be or not.  Michael Vick and dog fights. Several athletes with DUIs, domestic abuse, drugs and on and on.  So I mentioned doctors and nurses.  The group all said "yes, I know.  It's pathetic..."  How can a patient trust a healthcare provider sitting there 50-150 pounds overweight and smelling of smoke while telling the patient all the necessary steps he/she needs to take to be in better health.  My husband was getting care instructions after a hospital stay for viral cardiomyopathy.  I kid you not, the nurse must have been 475 pounds.  She had to take deep breaths every few words (disgusting) and was telling my husband to be sure he started a walking program once he got home.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? Then, we saw her getting in her car (it was lunch time) with a cigarette in her mouth.  My husband wanted so bad to go over by her and tell her that the "weight loss" effects of the cigarettes weren't helping her very much and she should go home and start a walking program. (chuckles)

Does it and shouldn't it all go back to the good old saying of "practice what you preach"?

It's the definition of 'self inflicted injury.'

I think it really depends to what extent you are imposing on the patients, whether you're a non-smoker or smoker.

I used to be a smoker, and I remember in college when I visited the nurse, she kept insisting that I quit and told me how her husband used to be a heavy smoker and has now quit. I was asking about birth control and she was saying how with all birth control you can't be a smoker or you'll get blood clots. But then I remembered my smoker friend being on Depo-Provera so I asked her 'well, what about Depo?' and she was all like 'welllllllllll, that one you can smoke on... but you should really stop smoking! It's terrible for you!'

It really annoyed the hell out of my how imposing and judgmental she was on my life choices.... to the point she neglected to tell me all the options I had.

That said, I'm no longer a smoker and to smoke and to not has always been my decision. As long as nurses and doctors don't go into a room reeking of smoke or the other way around, like imposing non-smoking views on their smoking patients, I think they should be allowed to do whatever they want!

Hello Fellow Healthcare Pro's- I did not answer the poll as none of the answers met my point of view. Smoking is an addiction as imost of us know. Our moral views aside, educating an already highly educated M.D. or nurse can be taxing. We know it all and tend to get defensive when it's about us. In other words, we are human with human failings. Programs in place to educate and assist throught the recovery process is what is needed. Not more prejudice and "holier than thou" prosthetizing.

 One of the real needs currently is in psych, where huge numbers of nurses smoke;right along with their clients who top the charts with very scary high numbers. The first step is to end all smoking in psychiatric facilities and encourage workers to quit along with the clients.

 Good luck to all,

 Linnea Johnson

Obama smokes?? WTH?

In my opinion, it's hypocritical.  It's like being obese and trying to explain to people how or why they need to lose weight.  Yes, it's a choice, but how can a patient take a nurse or doctor seriously when they have habits that are health hazardous?  For example, I would like to be a nurse.  I'm overweight.  Even though I have some setbacks, I am working to lose the weight to be in better health, and to be a good example of what a nurse should be.  I wouldn't feel right telling others how to be healthy and I wasn't.

I feel sorry for them. But one can rephrase the question as to, "How does one feel about Health Care Professionals who do not engage in the same healthy behaviors that they educate others in?"

atlnurse, I do agree with you, however, working in the field for  39 years, (OMG, that makes me old LOL) in the real world, it happens more than you'd like to know...Teresa