Why do so many nurses smoke?

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Replies

  • dirty_dirty_eater
    dirty_dirty_eater Posts: 574 Member
    I could smell cigarette smoke on a nurse I had in the hospital recently.
    I thought of saying something, but as she was jamming a tube up my urethra at the time, I went for the whole discretion being the better part of keeping my pee pee thing.
  • Power_Man77
    Power_Man77 Posts: 207
    I get that the job is stressful and all that...

    I actually know more than couple of nurses who're strippers and chain smoke. They said they'd do drugs but they if they ever applied for the nursing job (stripping is while they're looking), they will have to get tested.

    tl;dr: who the hell cares

    Me: Ouch I have a splinter in my finger, think I need to go to doctor.

    Wife: Why you taking all those one dollar bills?
  • highervibes
    highervibes Posts: 2,219 Member
    All the nurses I know are pretty trashy so... yeah, there's that.

    You do realize that is more a reflection on you and the people you know rather than nurses in general.

    OMG, does this mean *I'm* trashy too?!? shiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.
  • highervibes
    highervibes Posts: 2,219 Member
    I could smell cigarette smoke on a nurse I had in the hospital recently.
    I thought of saying something, but as she was jamming a tube up my urethra at the time, I went for the whole discretion being the better part of keeping my pee pee thing.

    I spent a month in the hospital in October and most of the nurses were obese and they just looked like they had been around the block lol. You could definitely tell the smokers from the non by their teeth and skin. Gross.
  • NRSPAM
    NRSPAM Posts: 961 Member
    First, nurses are regular people, like anyone else. We're not superhuman. Maybe a little more capable of dealing with blood, vomit, poop, and other disgusting, and very stressful things. Also, nurses tend to be a little more screwed up than the majority, or so I've read. Most people who go into fields so they can "help" people are, like therapists or counselors. We know it's unhealthy, but it's just as addictive as crack, if not more so, and it's more socially acceptable...well not so much these days. Lol.
  • cmingooo
    cmingooo Posts: 1 Member
    it is VERY high stress, i work as a lead med charge & am working on getting my lpn so im around nurses at my job... one nurse that used to work there smoked EVERY twenty minutes and actually put it in front of catering to our residents ( we worked at an assisted living retirement home ) & actually told me that i should take up smoking for my stress at work.
    honestly, i just smoke a joint and pray:) works much better for me AND my health.


    think thin people:)

    & good luck with your goals today!
  • bloominheck
    bloominheck Posts: 869 Member
    hmmm that is interesting. The medical center I work at you cannot smoke even on the surrounding areas of the hospital. So they would have a bit of a hike just to go smoke a cig. Anywhere closer and the campus police would stop them. They are that strict about it.
  • sukiwabi
    sukiwabi Posts: 221 Member
    All the nurses I know are pretty trashy so... yeah, there's that.

    huh. :huh:

    okay then.

    well, i'll weigh in. I've been a nurse for 20 years. My opinion is that most nurses (especially us older-school nurses) have the personality type that puts others before ourselves. Not saying this is a healthy dynamic, but I would bet that if you asked a large number of nurses who is more important at any given moment on a shift, they would invariably name their patients first. This means that nurses will often care for others to the detriment of themselves and it is partially driven by the perception that others have of nurses - that they need to be selfless above all else, that they are in general not deserving of proper mealtimes and rest periods (many nurses begin smoking while at work because they only time they get a real break from job pressure is when they are out back/outside, which is where the smokers hang), that they need to stay to care for people when there is no replacement despite what is going on in their personal life/family life, etc etc. Otoh, nurses are called out for being unhealthy.

    typical madonna/*kitten* expectation. takes a backbone and some pretty rigid ideals of what personal mental and physical health looks like and should play out.

    i'll step down from the soapbox, but that is the tip of the iceburg imo. i would like to add a disclaimer that I wish all of my co-workers were healthy (just like i wish everyone good health) and I do support smoke free workplaces. Patients do not need to be smelling smoke and can be adversely affected by such.
  • bcf7683
    bcf7683 Posts: 1,653 Member
    Nursing has a high rate of obesity as well.

    Joker-Meme-Smoking-Dangerous.png

    There needs to be a freakin' "like" button on this website.
  • bloominheck
    bloominheck Posts: 869 Member
    All the nurses I know are pretty trashy so... yeah, there's that.
    tumblr_mtbz6s2wUd1s8n4sio1_500.jpg


    :laugh:
  • sukiwabi
    sukiwabi Posts: 221 Member
    I could smell cigarette smoke on a nurse I had in the hospital recently.
    I thought of saying something, but as she was jamming a tube up my urethra at the time, I went for the whole discretion being the better part of keeping my pee pee thing.

    :laugh:
  • highervibes
    highervibes Posts: 2,219 Member
    All the nurses I know are pretty trashy so... yeah, there's that.
    tumblr_mtbz6s2wUd1s8n4sio1_500.jpg

    We already established this as a demographics issue, I'M TRASHY TOO lol
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Same reason other people do, I suppose. It's not as if they know the dangers more than anyone else.
  • NRSPAM
    NRSPAM Posts: 961 Member
    OMG! LMBO! Annnnnddddd......thread locked!
  • lucan07
    lucan07 Posts: 509
    Maybe because its legal to go away and have a smoke, they could get in serious trouble for killing some of the patients they have to deal with.
  • NRSPAM
    NRSPAM Posts: 961 Member
    Maybe because its legal to go away and have a smoke, they could get in serious trouble for killing some of the patients they have to deal with.

    True! We can't even legally sedate them for being a PITA! Uggghhh!!!
  • NoeHead
    NoeHead Posts: 516 Member
    It's funny you mention this. I quit smoking until I got into nursing school from the stress and the eating helped me calm down after a patient I got used to seeing in the hallway or in Long term health ward/Oncology unit would pass away.

    trying to stay away from a 12 hour shift was difficult too.

    I guess its all in how you deal with stress/emotions..for me personally I dealt with eating and smoking because I'd feel too tired to even think about going to the gym after being on my feet all day. And I was just a nursing student then.
  • NRSPAM
    NRSPAM Posts: 961 Member
    It's funny you mention this. I quit smoking until I got into nursing school from the stress and the eating helped me calm down after a patient I got used to seeing in the hallway or in Long term health ward/Oncology unit would pass away.

    trying to stay away from a 12 hour shift was difficult too.

    I guess its all in how you deal with stress/emotions..for me personally I dealt with eating and smoking because I'd feel too tired to even think about going to the gym after being on my feet all day. And I was just a nursing student then.

    By the time I graduated nursing school all of the nursing students were on prescription xanax. Except me...probably 'cuz I ate and smoked. Also blew up like a balloon. :wink:
  • vtmoon
    vtmoon Posts: 3,436 Member
    All the nurses I know are pretty trashy so... yeah, there's that.

    You do realize that is more a reflection on you and the people you know rather than nurses in general.

    OMG, does this mean *I'm* trashy too?!? shiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.

    Not necessarily, just means you need better insurance.
  • gabbygirl78
    gabbygirl78 Posts: 936 Member
    I don't know if this is elsewhere but, in my state, there is one Hospital that does not allow smoking on or off duty. If it's discovered that person smokes, they are fired.

    edit for correction: it was a new hire policy. if you are just bored out of your mind...read it. http://www.thv11.com/news/article/175920/2/Searcy-hospital-adopts-new-hiring-policy-banning-smokers

    I am a nurse... I use to smoke and I am obese... what do you know lol.... There are a lot of facilities that are banning smoking by their employees due to insurance costs. They are actually doing nicotine testing like random drug testing and you can be fired for this.

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