Should smoking be allowed in private rooms in nursing and long-term care facilities?

[CommunityAdmin]

According to: Smoke-free Illinois - A Guide for Workplaces 

Exemptions to the Smoke-free Illinois Act:

• Private and semi-private rooms in nursing homes and long-term care facilities are exempt under the Smoke-free Illinois Act. These facilities, however, must comply with statutes and administrative rules under which the facility is licensed and the fire protection and life safety codes included in those rules.
• If it is a facility operated under the authority of Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs or licensed under Nursing Home Care Act then they need to have a smoking room accessible to residents.

How do you feel about this? 

[Sootie]

Full disclosure---I was the Administrator of a 120 bed nursing home in my "other life". Worked there for 15 years (not all as Administrator----only the last 5. Before that I was admissions caseworker, human services director and then Administrator). There was a designated smoking room in the facility. No one could smoke in their rooms since all rooms except for four(4) were semi private. You could smoke in the interior outdoor courtyard (one side of it) or inside in a designated smoking room. Confused residents or residents who were unsafe with a cigarette on their own were either accompanied by an aide from the nursing facility or a family member. The smoking area was right next to the nurses station and glassed in so it could be seen.

Of course we are all anti smoking in this community......otherwise, what would we be doing here??? But you do have to ask yourself.......I got to make the choice, shouldn't they? It's a complicated issue......shades of grey---- not black and white. It always was a contentious subject even back then. It continues to be now. I smoked then and felt the residents had the right to smoke if they wanted. I do not smoke now but, if I were back in that job I would still feel they had the right to smoke.

And yes.....I can see the other side as well.

And yes.....I now am Administrator of 10 early childhood centers. Life has given me the opportunity to see both sides of it......the start and the finish.

Again Mark‌ thanks for the interesting discussion.

[pir8fan]

Well, I guess it is time to weigh in! I probably will not surprise anyone with my opinion! I may upset some who do not know me well! 

As long as it is legal to buy cigarettes people have the right to smoke them! If you have a place of business and you don’t want people to smoke there, that is fine! If you do allow smoking that is fine! Either will cost you business! Your decision! Live with the consequences!

Now it is legal to smoke where you live! Assisted living facilities are businesses as well! Smoking or non smoking should be a business decision! 

That being said I am glad I am Smoke Free! But, people still have the right to kill themselves in any damnfool way they chose! 

The only the only way the government should be involved is to determine the legalization of the product itself! That decision is heavily influenced by the money in the pockets of politicians without term limits!

For the most part we are still Free in America! Let’s keep it that way!   Tommy

[AnnetteMM]

I completely agree.  In NY the law is that wherever there are employees, there is no smoking indoors.

[Kbloodless]

I think the facilities should decide. I think it should be mandatory to have a sign that’s bold and visible(and it’s visibility and boldness audited annually) at any facility that allows any indoor smoking. To be clear this sign should not read “smoking allowed” or something benign. But instead something very bold and clear, such as, “smoking permitted indoors”. For a non smoking facility they could have signs bold and clear reading, “smoking only permitted in safe smoke zones, personal units are not safe smoke zones, rules enforced”.

It quit like 80 days ago, I used to smoke inside, I now have my smelling ability back, and I know several of my neighbors smoke inside. It affects my health, it smells, and is a trigger. And it’s showing me what I carelessly did to my neighbors in the past. I’ve akways had a balcony, so do they, I could have, and they could be, going outside to smoke.

That being said, unless every prospective tenant knows that their neighbors will be smoking inside from the get go, then there should not be any smoking inside without repercussions. 

I think it’s also reasonable to install public corridor balconies for smokers. So that if they do smoke, and they’re in a non smoking facility, that they were aware there would not be smoking permitted inside from the get go, that they can easily access a safe smoking zone.

[Sootie]

Just one more word on this.......residents in long term care facilities are often quite physically disabled. They are not "just old". These physical disabilities (unfortunately) do not remove their desire for a cigarette. So they generally have to be "taken" to a smoking room. Going outside causes other issues on wandering and supervision. As stated before.....it's not an easy issue. There are many, many things to consider. We had a somewhat "younger" man in our nursing facility (64---which is YOUNG in long term care) who was completely incapacitated due to ALS. He used a full body stand up walker to stand and other wise was wheel chair bound or bed bound but with no ability to move his wheel chair on his own.  But he was alert and he did smoke and he did want a cigarette.

I was not discussing laws because.... as has been noted....every State will have different laws. And, of course, a nursing home is a business. But, when a business is someone's only home and probably will be until the end of their days......then you have another discussion. It's complicated.

[Redhead101]

My opinion  this is not good discussion  especially with us newbies I'm sorry we're here to try to quit smoking not  put people down everybody got a free Wheel of choice,, I'm not here to judge  on anyone  sorry,,