Should hospitals have smoking areas for patients?

[jimmalru80]

No. No smoking in ANY public place.

 

[kimmar067]

I don't know if they're exactly called electronic cigarettes - but you "smoke" them and you still get nicotine. See?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-cigarette

...uhhh, YUK!

 

[legalsea]

Sorry, but I can't resist.

From Arrested Development:

Jessica (the mother, visiting at the hospital): "Well, I guess I'll go down to the hospital bar".

Michael: "Mother, they don't have bars in hospitals".

Jessica: "See! This is why people don't like hospitals!"

 

[daisax]

I work at a hospital and in the last 20 years have watched things change from smoking permitted in the offices (!) to only being permitted in a couple of designated smoking areas (one indoors, one outside), to being moved outside the building only on the sidewalk, to now being "no where on campus." And since we are surrounded by the medical school and a couple of other hospitals who have the same policy, means one could walk many blocks before finding a "safe" place to smoke.

My sister was hospitalized in a couple of places last summer and there was no smoking period (and she couldn't walk, so she couldn't break out on her own anyway). They gave her a patch and anxiety drugs.

Another factor that may help is that hospitalizations tend to be much, much shorter nowadays. It was one thing when you were in for a week -- now even surgical procedures get released the same day a large amount of the time. Chances are, if you're sick enough to be held in the hospital, smoking isn't your highest priority.

 

[Pin Wizard]

All our campuses went non-smoking in the past year. Just the other day I was waiting for an elevator when a patient's relative asked me where she could go to smoke. I had to tell her the entire campus is non-smoking and leave it at that. But how can they really enforce it with patients and visitors? What would they actually do to them? Our smoking employees now walk over to the practically adjoining cemetary to smoke.

 

[kimmar067]

All our campuses went non-smoking in the past year. Just the other day I was waiting for an elevator when a patient's relative asked me where she could go to smoke. I had to tell her the entire campus is non-smoking and leave it at that. But how can they really enforce it with patients and visitors? What would they actually do to them?

..the crack team of Cigarette Police will get em' and take 'em to Cigarette Jail!

 

[wvdisluv2]

yes

 

[dollarmite]

No. No smoking in ANY public place.

I totally agree.

 

[ckret01]

Yes

 

[flying_babyb]

I dont know. Our hospital took away the last spot nurses were aloud to smoke. It sucks, only because they took the picnic table too! I liked to eat lunch there. Right now No one can smoke anywere on the hospital campus (which is huge).

 

[tigercat]

This question has brought up memories of when I had my kids. Especially my ds who was born in 1979. I ended up on the smoking side of the maternity ward. She smoked all the time. My ds was in the NICU so it was just me. I ended up finding a couch in the middle of the ward that I could lay down on to try and rest. I didn't get any sleep because I couldn't go to my room and the non smoking section was full. My ds was transfered out of that hospital the next night and I was discharged. I was so glad to be out of the hospital so that I could breath again.
tigercat

 

[RN4Babies]

Absolutely no.

I used to be an oncology nurse. I can't count the number of patients I'd hang chemotherapy for, and they would lug it onto the elevator and smoke their cigs while the chemotherapy was infusing. A lot of the oncologists would make it a point of offering smoking cessation meds or patches to the patients, and the majority of the patients weren't interested. Really....what, then, is the point of chemo?.....

I now work at a pediatric hospital, and our campus went smoke free a couple of years ago. Parents of the kids still go outside to smoke. It is sooo gross when I have a parent come in to visit, and their hair and clothes smell like smoke....and they want to hold their baby, who's either premature, has recently had surgery, or has a serious illness. Blech

 

[CajunDixie]

So you think hospitals should have smoking areas for patients???!!!???
Really?????
Then should they also have alcohol for the alcoholics? A bottle of Jack Daniels with their meds at night?
Or how about a lil morphine or dilaudid for the painkiller addicts?
ohh and you can't forget the newest addiction.....meth. Just have the patient techs brew some outside the back door because God knows we wouldn't want to let the smokers have their cigs and not let the drug addicts have their fix too.

 

[TheZue]

If people are willing to drag their IV outside to smoke they are going to be more than willing to make their way off the property on to the street. Idealy you'd just tell them to cut it out while they were in the hospital, but not having a smoking area isn't going to make any difference.

 

[rickyratsmom]

Uhm, you can request a nicotine patch if your a smoker confined to a hospital!! So my simple answer is no!!

 

[wvdisluv2]

So you think hospitals should have smoking areas for patients???!!!???
Really?????
Then should they also have alcohol for the alcoholics? A bottle of Jack Daniels with their meds at night?
Or how about a lil morphine or dilaudid for the painkiller addicts?
ohh and you can't forget the newest addiction.....meth. Just have the patient techs brew some outside the back door because God knows we wouldn't want to let the smokers have their cigs and not let the drug addicts have their fix too.

yup~alcoholics will have little trouble "sneaking" in their alcohol. The remainder of your examples are illegal. Alcohol and cigarettes are legal~despite both being addictive...they are legal.

 

[wvdisluv2]

Uhm, you can request a nicotine patch if your a smoker confined to a hospital!! So my simple answer is no!!

I can assure you that a nicotine patch will not suffice for a smoker~I didn't use them when I quit~they are not effective except for prolonging withdrawel~smoking is more than just the "nicotine addiction". Believe me...I know.

 

[scotlass]

Im just out of hospital.
The gynae was right by the Maternity wing and to see woman smoking between contractions must be one of the saddest thing Ive ever seen.

I dont smoke so I know I cant really have an opinion but jeez thats just sad.

But back on topic,i think no smoking in any public place.

 

[Cinderella94]

yup~alcoholics will have little trouble "sneaking" in their alcohol.

But that doesn't mean they should be allowed to have alcohol . Sure it's legal, but does a recovering alcoholic really need alcohol? No.

 

[Disney Doll]

So you think hospitals should have smoking areas for patients???!!!???
Really?????
Then should they also have alcohol for the alcoholics? A bottle of Jack Daniels with their meds at night?
Or how about a lil morphine or dilaudid for the painkiller addicts?
ohh and you can't forget the newest addiction.....meth. Just have the patient techs brew some outside the back door because God knows we wouldn't want to let the smokers have their cigs and not let the drug addicts have their fix too.

Actually, the alcoholics and drug addicts get a whole heck of a lot of nice medication so they don't withdrawl too badly. The days of letting alcoholics or drug addicts "tough it out" through withdrawl are long gone...it's been at least 10 years since I have had to restrain someone during substance withdrawl...we just give 'em enough meds to keep 'em comfy thorughout the worst part. "Back in the day" we actually did give an alcoholic a shot of whiskey on occasion...came from the Pharmacy and everything. That's no longer "PC", so now we give Ativan usually.

I will say though that we do not brew crystal meth. I guess if someone is a crystal meth addict, we'd have to find a more "legal" drug to keep them calm.