Why do so many nurses smoke?

mkmerrill

Wow...sorry after my 14 hour shift saving lives I needed to sleep in and did not do my make up. Oh and no I do not want to be a doctor because I love being a nurse! Guess what ....we are college graduates too and choose to work in a industry where people like you are clearly ignorant....because we LOVE it. We put up with the jerks like you because we actually care people. Maybe you should tell a nurse THANK YOU!!!!!!!

NoeHead

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.

LOL After I finished my NCLEX exam I finished a bottle of wine while crying positive that I have failed...the exam was at 7am.. lol


I realized nursing wasn't my thing...I was afraid I'd either be one of the tainted nurse population that would be hateful years down the road or would still have issues being emotionally objective and not cry on the way home because the patient in the terminal ward passed.


HELLO DESK JOCKEY WORLD! haha

Lol. I felt like I knew nothing on the exam when I took the NCLEX. I was also the first one out of there, so I thought I had failed too, but NOPE! :happy:

Two days later I got my license! high five on thinking the worst! funny, when I stopped doing nursing and got into IT, i quit smoking...and lost weight lol...the stress...and lack of sleep...and can mess people up.

Deipneus

Two days later I got my license! high five on thinking the worst! funny, when I stopped doing nursing and got into IT, i quit smoking...and lost weight lol...the stress...and lack of sleep...and can mess people up.

You're in IT and you sleep?:noway:

Mustang_Susie

Definitely this. I used to work in the medical field (not as a nurse) and I'm telling you 80% of them (including RNs, yes) were sleazy ex druggies, chain smokers, obese and constantly drinking huge sodas and jamming fast food and donuts down their gobs. Like to the point of freaking me out. They also saw no reason, apparently, to ever fix their hair or makeup at all and wore hideous scrubs.

The other 20% were all of 24 yrs old and model gorgeous, impeccably turned out, etc. They usually lasted about a year before going back to school to become NPs or doctors...or marrying well and becoming SAHMs.

I am not a sleazy ex (or current) druggie.
I do not smoke.
I am not obese. (5'7" and 118#)
I drink one can of Diet Coke at the beginning of my shift and then water.
I eat a Lean Pocket and fresh vegetables on break (if I get one, otherwise it's a fruit and nut bar to hold me 8+ hours).
I always shower, style my hair, wear make-up and a size small in scrubs (required by my company's uniform policy).
I am 46.
I have my Bachelor's degree.
I have married well and raised four children.
The "model gorgeous" is debatable.



(Thank you to the poster who said " they all know their stuff". :flowerforyou:
Yes, we do.)

MarisaDLS2

bump

MarisaDLS2

I work for one of the most prestigious hospitals in the world and it does bother me that most of the nurses are heavy smokers and obese but its their lives. I just feel bad for the patients that are ill and have to smell their cig stained clothes, they try to hide it with perfume but then it ends up flowered smoke, no good either. I actually feel sorry for them because they are educated people and still choose this unhealthy lifestyle!

It is strange that they even allow nurses to wear perfume. I work in an academic medical center, and staff is not to wear perfume.
When patients are ill the scent of perfume, (no matter how lovely it may be), can affect them negatively.:huh:

Definitely this. I used to work in the medical field (not as a nurse) and I'm telling you 80% of them (including RNs, yes) were sleazy ex druggies, chain smokers, obese and constantly drinking huge sodas and jamming fast food and donuts down their gobs. Like to the point of freaking me out. They also saw no reason, apparently, to ever fix their hair or makeup at all and wore hideous scrubs.

The other 20% were all of 24 yrs old and model gorgeous, impeccably turned out, etc. They usually lasted about a year before going back to school to become NPs or doctors...or marrying well and becoming SAHMs.

I am not a sleazy ex (or current) druggie.
I do not smoke.
I am a US women's size 10 (sometimes 8).
I drink coffee or water at work, I haven't had a soda, diet or otherwise in years.
I rarely drink, I never get drunk, it's unhealthy for you and unbecoming.
I don't eat fast food.
I eat a salad I've prepared from home for my meal, fruits and non fat yogurt for snacks.
I can't tell you the last time I had a donut. Many years ago, I do not miss them in the least.
I always shower, wear make-up and a size medium in scrubs (required by my hospital's uniform policy).
I am 55.
I have been a nurse for 30 years now, in ER.
I cannot tell you how many lives I have helped save with team effort on everyone's part in the ER,
After 30 years, it's a big number.
I have two Bachelor's degrees in 2 fields, Zoology and Nursing.
I have married well (a college professor) and raised a daughter 22,
who is now getting her PhD at Purdue in Economics (fully funded by Purdue).
I was gorgeous at 24, at 55 still pretty good looking I have to say.

We have to know our stuff or else we wouldn't be able to do the work we do.

Thank you to who posted that.

All the nurses I know pursue continuing education in emergency medicine.

Mainebikerchick

Smoking is banned at the hospital I work at but I don't really know any nurses that smoke.

Tigg_er

I don't want their stinky hands on me.

So you would rather bleed out laying in the parking lot cause the ER Nurse smokes ? WTF

gingermax

Having been a nurse for 43 yrs my answer to this question is... It was the ONLY way we got a break. If you went down to eat and stayed down there for 30 mins your co-workers would get angry. They had to watch YOUR pts and theirs for that time. It was always expected of you to bring your food back to the floor and eat it between taking care of pts. However no one minded when the smokers went out on break to smoke. After all... they could no longer smoke inside as they use to do. I worked the night shift 7PM to 7AM. I would go stir crazy inside the whole night ... so I started going out with the smokers to get away from the floor or the ER which ever I was working. They got angry because they said I didn't smoke. So... I started. Stupid... YES it was. Not only did I smell bad when I went back to my pts but I felt bad because I didn't want to be a smoker. I am now retired from nursing and a non-smoker again. Now my problem is trying to get back to the wt I was when I was nursing. I gained at least 50 lbs since I retired and now need to lose them.

VBnotbitter

Because if you smell of smoke it stops you from smelling patients - faeces, infected urine, vomit, puss, ruptured bowels, unwashed bodies, cheesy feet and the strong stench of sanctimony coming from some of the people in this thread.


Also I've never smoked and have never been obese or overweight, neither of the vast majority of my colleagues either in the UK or Australia. I've never wanted to train as a doctor, never looked trashy and have been in the PROFESSION for over 20 years

NoeHead

Two days later I got my license! high five on thinking the worst! funny, when I stopped doing nursing and got into IT, i quit smoking...and lost weight lol...the stress...and lack of sleep...and can mess people up.

You're in IT and you sleep?:noway:

I WAS in IT and yes I did sleep..I was a contractor for the Navy in Bahrain...overnight shifts were covered by the seamen..worst I had to do was do my 830 to 530 shift instead of 730-430....LOVED that job, learned a lot and got paid! lol

Nurses seem to be overlooked unless something goes wrong, the funny thing is that almost all the time they are checking in, talking to and monitoring the pt way more the a physician usually does(no disrespect to any MD's just saying that was my experience).

NRSPAM

I don't know what hospitals y'all have been to. Maybe one in the ghetto??? All I know, is that at my hospital, on my unit, my co-workers and I are professionals. None of us look sleazy, and as far as I know, none of them are current or ex-druggies. I do smoke, and I have a history of being obese, but I am no longer obese. I am still slightly over weight, but working on that. I do smoke, but I am the exception at my job. Most of my co-workers do not smoke. I always wash my hands when I am done. I rarely smell like cigarette smoke, only if it's very cold outside. I rarely even get the opportunity to smoke at work, since I'm usually busy busting my a%^ to take care of sick people. If I do wear any perfume at all, it's usually just a body spray, and it's usually wore off by the time I get to work. Also, most of my co-workers are healthy, and not overweight. Once again, I am the exception. You folks have no idea what nurses go through, and if you did, you wouldn't give a crap about whether we smoked, or were overweight. We are busy saving lives, and keeping you alive...literally. We bust our butts to take care of people, who sometimes fight us tooth and nail, literally, and sometimes are rude and ignorant to us, and act like we don't know anything. Meanwhile, we're on the phones trying to keep your doctors from killing you, and fighting to keep our other patients alive, who are extremely ill, while our other patients are calling us for trivial things every two seconds, and thinking that they're at the Holiday Inn. End of rant!

KMMRN

I don't know what hospitals y'all have been to. Maybe one in the ghetto??? All I know, is that at my hospital, on my unit, my co-workers and I are professionals. None of us look sleazy, and as far as I know, none of them are current or ex-druggies. I do smoke, and I have a history of being obese, but I am no longer obese. I am still slightly over weight, but working on that. I do smoke, but I am the exception at my job. Most of my co-workers do not smoke. I always wash my hands when I am done. I rarely smell like cigarette smoke, only if it's very cold outside. I rarely even get the opportunity to smoke at work, since I'm usually busy busting my a%^ to take care of sick people. If I do wear any perfume at all, it's usually just a body spray, and it's usually wore off by the time I get to work. Also, most of my co-workers are healthy, and not overweight. Once again, I am the exception. You folks have no idea what nurses go through, and if you did, you wouldn't give a crap about whether we smoked, or were overweight. We are busy saving lives, and keeping you alive...literally. We bust our butts to take care of people, who sometimes fight us tooth and nail, literally, and sometimes are rude and ignorant to us, and act like we don't know anything. Meanwhile, we're on the phones trying to keep your doctors from killing you, and fighting to keep our other patients alive, who are extremely ill, while our other patients are calling us for trivial things every two seconds, and thinking that they're at the Holiday Inn. End of rant!

Sister Nurse

jcmrax5

Ill never understand why ANYONE smokes. its disgusting, bad for you, and makes you STINK!

jenilla1

Nursing has a high rate of obesity as well.

Most of the nurses I know are obese.

Most of the nurses I've met are overweight or obese - just like the general population, but I didn't know whether any of them smoked or not. I never detected it. I'm surprised to hear that there is a high rate of smoking among nurses. That doesn't even make sense.

NRSPAM

Ill never understand why ANYONE smokes. its disgusting, bad for you, and makes you STINK!

Because it's addicting, like any other drug. I started very young, like most people. Too stupid to know any better, or understand fully the consequences. Drugs, alcohol, food, everyone has their own vice in life. Some have more vices than others.

skadoosh33

A lot of hospitals and government jobs won't hire you if you have had tobacco products within last 6 months. It was on applications when I was looking this past year. And there are some educated RNs out there. I have six years, 172 credits at 3.72 GPA through grad school. And it's hard to be obese if you work in a busy ER Trauma center like me.

whierd

I don't even know why we have nurses at all! They are just undertrained doctors!

snazzyjazzy21

Having been a nurse for 43 yrs my answer to this question is... It was the ONLY way we got a break.

Same reason so many chefs and cooks smoke , or at least is the case where I live. I had a tutor at culinary school who picked up smoking JUST so he could get the same number of breaks as the smokers at his work.

NoAdditives

why do you care what they do with their bodies? smoking is their choice.

Because it's disgusting when I have to smell it on them.