Why the hell are you nurses still smoking!?!?!? I see you huddled outside the VG and Infirmary hospitals everyday puffing your brains out. Don’t they teach you how bad smoking is for your health in nursing school? Shouldn’t you be setting an example of healthy living for the public? Plus, who’s going to take care of the rest of us when we get old if you guys are all dead from lung cancer and emphysema?? Please stop smoking, you should know better.
—Yikes!
This article appears in Aug 6-12, 2009.
In this day and age, everyone should know better. A nurse’s job is to be a nurse, not a public health role model. If someone’s moronic enough to see a nurse smoking and thinks to themselves gee maybe I should smoke too, they deserve whatever comes to them.
Everyone who smokes knows the risk they’re taking. They try not to seriously think about it when they’re smoking. Mole Rats right, its not their job to be a role model. As long as they’re good at their job and hopefully wash their hands after they smoke, who cares?
i agree with both of the above
it is a fact all people, of all shapes sizes, jobs etc smoke we know this!
If I had to deal with other people’s shit all day (literally and figuratively) I might take up smoking too…and alcohol and drugs.
i know it would be a hell of a job!
OP – I’d be more worried about their easy access to pharmaceutical drugs.
Mind your own business!
What you see, OP, is daily proof that the addictiveness of tobacco has it’s grip on all segments of society, even health care workers. Sad, really. ALL smokers quit eventually, those who choose to quit on their own, others when it finally kills them. Lungs are for life and you only get one set. Think about it.
Nurses have one of the most stressful jobs in the fucking world – that is taking care of the unwashed masses and trying to juggle 20 things at a time – I’d be smoking ten fucking cigarettes at a time if I had to deal with the shit they do, especially during the summer when everyone’s on vacation.
Damn. Given the title of this bitch, I thought it was going to be about something else entirely.
This bitch reminds me of a Crown lawyer I knew who liked to buy whores on a fairly regular basis. Shocking? NOT.
That has nothing to do with this bitch…
I remember being shocked to see nurses regularly smoking at the entrance to the IWK Grace maternity hospital a few years ago. Not only weren’t they at least 16 feet from the entrance (HRM Bylaw) but they were actually perched in front of at least one large ‘No Smoking’ sign.
While I recognize the dedication and professionalism that (most) nurses have, I must admit my opinion of them went down several notches when I saw that.
I fail to understand why you would judge someone by whether they smoke on THEIR BREAKS – fuck, Small Town, I’m glad I’m a fucking home owner with Landlords like you around.
Smoking on their breaks is their perogative TTFN. Doing so close to mothers and newborns is entirely selfish and not congruent with being a _healthcare_professional_.
And it’s Small TIME Landlord, not Small TOWN. And I’m sure your house is magnificent.
Small time/small town – either way you’re a schmutski! And TTFN’s house is the bomb. Its a mix b/w Dan Aykroyd’s place in Trading Places and something from National Lampoon; a bomb place to get down, get down!
Last time I checked, smoking was LEGAL. And it’s not only the nurses but doctors and techs too. Also like every other profession there are those who drink, take drugs, jump out of airplanes and other dangerous activities.
So anti-smokers, kindly FUCK OFF.
I used to work at the VGH back in the 80s and I swear that they must have taught the nurses how to smoke at nursing school because just about every one that I got to know was a smoker. They said it helped with the pressure of the job. Seems like things have not changed much. Back then those gals were all world-class drinkers, smokers, and partiers. Loved ’em.
Oh, and Oceanlady, if you are special apparently you can get more than one set of lungs now.
I don’t think they keep the babies close to the front entrance, Small Time.
I say as long as they keep their puffing to themselves, who cares? I’d be more concerned about the poor fucks in johnny shirts attached to IVs who strut themselves outside to have a smoke…why does no one bitch about that? I’m sure many of them are there because of smoke related illnesses, and yet they’re wasting healthcare dollars that could go to people who don’t choose to suck on cancer sticks by smoking while laid up.
True enough, Pretty Kitty. But you’d think that nurses that deal with these patients day in and day out would have the common sense to put 2 and 2 together. If you spend your days caring for decrepit people with smoking related illness, it begs the question why you yourself would smoke. No?
Small Time Landlord, “…my opinion of them went down several notches…”
Was that before or after they stoked your IV with necessary pain medication? Could that have been after she wiped your grandfathers butt and helped him cough up all that nasty shit? Maybe it was after taking your child’s temperature? Catching on now?
westcoastkid, “it begs the question why you yourself would smoke”
People prefer their freedom. Do you need more evidence than this?
Why do people assume that every nurse is taking care of patients with smoking related illnesses? It’s a big hospital.
Everyone who smokes does it for the same reasons, because it’s very enjoyable and it’s more addictive than heroin. Everyone who smokes knows that it is a health risk, the photos on the packs make that abundantly clear every time smokers reach for their cigarettes. The fact is that any adult who chooses to do so can buy/use tobacco, it is their body therefore their decision, everyone else should mind their own business.
come on now people,to each their own.if a person smokes,drinks,does soft drugs,are they any less a person,no,really. there are doctors who smoke,and they know all the crap that goes with it too. would you rather your heart surgeon take a smoke break,before he works on you,or a drug break,or how about a shot or 10. me,i’ll settle for a guy with a butt dangling from his mouth,over the other 2 anyday. and again,it’s their preferrence and life. as hectic as it can be sometimes,cut them some slack will ya.
Jai, “…[smoking cigarettes is] more addictive than heroin”
You’re talking out of your ass!!! Go smoke a cigarette then crank a hit of heroine… you’ll quickly forget you lit a smoke. You’ll be a heroine junkie long before you think about lighting another cigarette *shakes head* Maybe what you mean to say is quitting smoking is tougher than quitting heroine but talk about what you know, not what you obviously don’t know.
I kind of disagree that nurses aren’t role models.
If front line medical professionals (nurses, doctors, etc.) aren’t supposed to be setting a good example with regards to health promotion, who is?
I kind of liken a nurse or doctor who smokes to an obese dietitan, or personal trainer who’s terribly out of shape…
Hey, Jennie, a personal trainer could be a bodybuilder, and those guys are far from “in shape”. Same goes for dietitians, they don’t necessarily have to eat healthy to build healthy meals.
Bodybuilders aren’t in shape?
smokers are retards
Gee..the way that the Nurses Union goes on and on ad nauseum about how overworked and underpaid these poor nurses are I am A) Surprised that they can find the time or energy to smoke and B) Surprised that they can afford a pack of smokes.
I gotta say I think the OP is totally out of line. You’re going to find smokers in almost every profession, and nursing is no different. It is a hard job, often thankless, and they are almost permanently short staffed. And, even if you see a large group of them outside the hospital, it’s still probably only a small percentage of the total number of nurses working in the healthcare system.
Actually kay, I was referring to the following information found on the WHO and Health Canada’s websites.
“The Royal College of Physicians similarly concluded that nicotine is an addictive drug on par with heroin and cocaine, and that the primary purpose of smoking tobacco is to deliver a dose of nicotine rapidly to the brain.”
http://www.who.int/tobacco/research/cessat…
“The pharmacological and behavioral processes that determine tobacco addiction are similar to those that determine addiction to drugs such as heroin and cocaine. Nicotine’s effects on brain dopamine reward systems are similar to those of drugs such as heroin, amphetamine, and cocaine. In a ranking of the addictiveness of psycho-active drugs, nicotine was determined to be more addictive than heroin, cocaine, alcohol, caffeine, and marijuana.”
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hc-ps/pubs/tobac-ta…
It’s not like the nurses are “advocating” street racing or doing heroin, they are smoking a perfectly legal, if dangerous, drug. Again, if you think smoking is OK because a nurse does it, you are a fucking idiot. And if you are a child who sees a nurse smoking and think it’s a good idea and grow up to be a smoker, that’s still your fault, as well as the fault of your parents. I mean, what’s going to happen? Is someone gong to get lung cancer and be all like “if it wasn’t for those dastardly nurses…I’VE BEEN DECEIVED…oh hey, check out these crazy warnings and photos of diseased lungs they have on EVERY cig pack. Never noticed those before.”
No doubt this bizzare phenomenon is a testiment to how addictive cigs really are. The fact that these health care professionals can see lives ruined and cut short by tobbacco, day in day out. Yet they STILL smoke themselves. It is totally ridiculous!
It would be like a Firefighter storing buckets of oil soaked rags in his garage. A Plumber stuffing hair down his own drain. A mechanic not checking his own oil. Those things are all legal if not socially acceptable – but they’re still fucking stupid when you know damn well the consequences. The only difference is they aren’t horibly addictive and (in the past) deceitfully marketed. Tobbacco companies are scum.
Yes, smoking is bad. To suggest health care workers somehow harbour some secret knowledge the rest of us are not privy to is silly. To imply that they shouldn’t have the same rights to have a smoke as the rest of us is just lame. Sure tobacco companies are unethical for trying to make a buck off an addictive product, but what about the coffee and alcohol companies, are they any better?
I’m a nursing student, and I completely disagree with the statement that nurses are not public health role models. It disgusts me to no end the number of nurses that smoke (and that are obese, but that’s another story). They absolutely SHOULD know better. You’d think that seeing a 50-year-old woman struggling to maintain her oxygen sats above 90% with 5L of oxygen flowing into her nostrils would be enough to help them throw away the smokes forever. A nurse who smokes (or overeats), IMHO, has no place recommending that his or her patient quit smoking (or lose weight). This is a major personal issue for me.
I laugh at their ignorance. Pretty much the biggest oxymoron of all time.
Jai, speaking from practical experience here… didn’t like smoking. I don’t know any nicotine virgin who didn’t go ‘yuck’ after their first drag. Shoot someone up with heroine, even if they puke first, they don’t complain and WILL ask for more once the dose wears off. So again, the text can be interpreted along side reality to say not that nicotine is more “addictive” but much much harder to quit. A little more research into addictive substances and you’ll find caffeine tops them all.
westcoastkid, did you consider nurses smoking is also like a “recovering gambling addict” taking a spin on the local VLT? The abused substance is secondary to the self-abusive, addictive behavior.
Heathro, people can only kick a habit if they want to. They can’t kick it for you, for their kids or because something they saw scared them (nurses are supposed to be hardened to such scenes). They can only kick it if they WANT to, yet another freedom extended to all Canadians, nurses too.
People choose freedom of choice over sensible advice all the time, thank God. Live and let live.
Hey man, I never said it shouldn’t be allowed (or legal) or whatever. All I said was that it is stupid.
Which it is.
Smoking is stupid. Smoking when you’re pregnant isn’t illegal either. Any defense for that one? Freedom of choice – I get it. The United States of ME. Maybe our fanatical individualism isn’t the panacea we think it is. Hmmmmm….
Freedom of choice or the fact that a fetus/embro isn’t legally a “person” until they were fully born. That’s how the chick who sniffed glue couldn’t be legally stopped by the gov’t when they took her to court, and why, for many years, partial birth abortions were perfectly legal (and disgusting. I’m pretty sure even pro choicers (like me!) would agree that PBAs are heinous).
I have a question Heathro, the obese part of your statement. You say that nurses should be role models; I disagree because they are people with freedoms. So if there is a role model that can be created with tax dollars should it not be the hospital itself? Why is it that you can buy fatty/junk food in hospitals? Shouldn’t the hospital set an example by serving only healthy foods to their employees and customers?
Nurses are people too OP… you wouldn’t see them huddled on the corner or on the street if it weren’t for the draconian laws people like you have pushed for… now eat it!
I always like heroine(s) – Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Sue Storm, etc. Now heroin, I have no use for.
Sure, balls, and they should also be sending healthy balanced meals up to the patients on the floors, but instead they send muffins and white bread and potatoes and juice. It’s cheaper, which is unfortunate. And we wonder why our patients’ blood sugars are sky-high.
I realize (perhaps more than anyone) that nurses are people that have the freedom to make choices, but it simply baffles me since they have seen, first-hand, how debilitating emphysema, asthma, COPD and mouth, throat and lung cancer can be. Kay, I do agree with you saying they won’t quit unless they personally want to, because that is a personal decision. However, you’re sadly mistaken if you think nurses aren’t affected in some way by what they see. They may not cry outright, but behind the scenes, they have a tough time watching their patients decline. It’s sad when they come in for shift change and realize a patient has died through the night. There’s a certain level of professionalism – hardness, as you call it – that we maintain for the sake of the patients, but until you see how these nurses speak and feel away from the patient, you can’t understand.
Of course nurses are people and have the same FREEDOMS (Kay’s buzz word of the month) as everyone else.
I would think that being surrounded by the sick and dying on a daily basis would make you WANT to live a healthy lifestyle to avoid some of those ailments.
(I have a really stressful job too, but I don’t turn to cigarettes or potato chips to find comfort…)
I would think that being surrounded by the sick and dying on a daily basis would make you want to live… how you want to because life is too dam short, obviously.
And Jennie, the “buzzword” has been my theme for many many years. Why would you have a problem with that? It’s my reason for living and probably yours too if you think about it.
Fire them! Nothing worse than a nurse that smells worse than a pack of smokes.
Obviously that’s why I choose to live in a country like Canada rather than, say, North Korea.
However I also understand that if something I like to do affects the health and/or safety of others, the government is going to step in and place restrictions on where I can/cannot do it to protect society at large. Since only 19% of Canadian adults over the age 0f 15 smoke, majority wins.
Democracy really is beautiful, isn’t it?
Constantly ranting about how your freedoms are being trampled on – for pretty trivial reasons, I might add – makes you sound like a crazy conspiracy theorist.
You seem to think the Canadian government is your new Dad, Jennie.
Next you’ll say the government shouldn’t be taxing taxes from you because it infringes on your freedoms too? Governments will always be restricting your behaviour in some way. Living in a society is about give and take and you are free to leave if you only want to care about yourself. As long as your charter rights are not being denied, and in the case of smoking they are not, then comments about the government being “daddy” or “fascist” or whatever are warranted. It is a perfectly legal and moral thing to control tobacco use in a population, especially when the majority agree with the laws being passed.
be worried about how they are going to help you not what they do on their own time
They should take care of themselves before taking care of other people, Jane. The problem with nurses is that they give and give and give of themselves, with no regard to their own health. They may feel that they don’t have the time, nor the energy, to take better care of themselves. This excuse does not fly well with me. Sorry, but I don’t buy it. And I work with nurses all effing day. (One was shocked that I suggest that she WALK to Quinpool Road from the Infirmary. How dare I!)
Heathro, I’m taking you out for burritos and smokes. Do you have a little black dress you can wear to Taco Bell? 😀
A man after my own heart, you are
If you have a spare bus ticket to loan me, we can take a bus to a video game store! Or comic books.
SOMEONE needs to get laid *eyeroll*
LIFESUCKS or Bobby33?
Well that goes without saying, however I was referring to a particular large-girth’d LTWWB poster who has a love for cheeseburgers, donairs, and ragging on Kay.
Buy you a buster bar if you can figure it out, Fat *wink*
You need to think of more creative ways to make people say, “pretty kitty!”
Imma post yo pic on failblog, NGF.
You know I don’t each cheeseburgers anymore.
Fucker.
*eat.
I’m more of a chickenburger girl, fatass.
She meant ‘double-chicken-burgers’, y’all!
STOP TEMPTING ME
Make friends with fish.
or deer.
You know, I’m like, on a diet, NGF. Thanks for being super supportive, fatso.
PORK, Dino! It’s the “other white meat”!
Ham is kinda pink though….HOWEVER IT IS DELICIOUS. Point of fact: NGF always carries a ham sandwich in his back pocket, yo.
Like, in case of an “emergency.”
And by “emergency” I mean “hasn’t gone more than 5 minutes without stuffing a burger down his fat pie hole.”
Mmmmmm venison. And there’s nothing wrong with a little pink meat.
The Canadian government isn’t anyone’s Dad… it’s their Nanny. As in Nanny state. This is what we pay 55% of our lifelong income for, so that people can bitch about trivial issues that really have no bearing on anyone else. Whatever the nurse chooses to put in her body is her business, isn’t it? lol. If not the OP will be very busy moving from smokers to trans-fats guzzlers shaking their finger and giving dissaproving looks – to about 70% of the population.
Holy cow. Are you guys fighting fo’ realz? That’s enough drama-rama for one thread, thanks