AP Wire | 04/30/2006 | Hospital smoking ban extends to smelling like smoke:
"Hospital smoking ban extends to smelling like smoke
Associated Press
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Officials at the University of Missouri Health Care have announced a new policy to prohibit smoking on all property owned by its hospitals.
The ban announced Saturday includes all outdoor areas, including vehicles parked on hospital property. And beginning Sept. 1, MU Health employees can even be reprimanded for smelling like tobacco smoke.
'What, are they going to be policing Highway 63 now?' asked Deborah Rountree, a nurse in University Hospital's burn unit. 'Can I not have a cigarette on the way to work?'
But Laura Schopp, wellness coordinator for MU Health, defended the measure.
'We have people with respiratory illnesses in here and people in the hospital who are trying to quit themselves, and for some people, the smell of smoke is a trigger for cravings,' she said.
'We think it's good patient care to be smoke free, just as we encourage employees to wear scented-free products.'"
"Hospital smoking ban extends to smelling like smoke
Associated Press
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Officials at the University of Missouri Health Care have announced a new policy to prohibit smoking on all property owned by its hospitals.
The ban announced Saturday includes all outdoor areas, including vehicles parked on hospital property. And beginning Sept. 1, MU Health employees can even be reprimanded for smelling like tobacco smoke.
'What, are they going to be policing Highway 63 now?' asked Deborah Rountree, a nurse in University Hospital's burn unit. 'Can I not have a cigarette on the way to work?'
But Laura Schopp, wellness coordinator for MU Health, defended the measure.
'We have people with respiratory illnesses in here and people in the hospital who are trying to quit themselves, and for some people, the smell of smoke is a trigger for cravings,' she said.
'We think it's good patient care to be smoke free, just as we encourage employees to wear scented-free products.'"
Comments