News, Do you smoke cigarettes? US smokers face threat of being fired. (employed, average)

[sheri257]

Originally Posted by bibit612

Please provide the diagnosis code for smoking as I am unaware of one. Please provide the data where and if there was an ICD-9 code for smoking that it is the primary diagnosis code, the code that was used for admission. If there is no diagnosis code, please provide the DRG that was used to admit the smoker. I would be willing to bet with you that the diagnosis code for diabetes would be more than likely to appear as at least a secondary diagnosis if not primary in a claim record. The primary would be the more common comorbid conditions...(CAD, ASVD, etc. etc.)

Of course there's no diagnosis code for smoking but, when you do the health histories on these people smoking is involved in a large variety of cases. Particularly heart disease, asthma, COPD, etc.

I would definitely put diabetes in the top three causes of hospitalizations also but, you DO see a lot of smokers in hospitals. That's just a fact. For one thing ... they're always bugging us nurses to take them outside to smoke ... go figure.

You can pretty much bet that the vast majority of respiratory hospitalizations are related to smoking. If they don't smoke anymore chances are they did smoke at one time. And a big chunk of cardiac hospitalizations involve smokers and/or former smokers also.

[nebulous1]

Originally Posted by sheri257

Well ... I just quit four months ago after I don't know how many years of smoking (too many to count) ...

Mostly because I'm busting my tail saving for retirement and I realized it would be pretty stupid to jeopardize my long term health prospects when I am finally able to retire.

I'm trying not to become one of those anti-smoking Nazis (whom I hated when I smoked) but, once I got my sense of smell back ... I couldn't stand to be around anyone who did smoke anymore.

Even if they don't smoke around me, I can now always smell it on them. I had no idea that the smell was that bad when I did smoke. Smokers may be unaware of the effect the smell has on others because I certainly didn't realize how bad it was until I quit.

As for companies not hiring people who smoke, they may have a right to do so if they're footing a big chunk of the health insurance bill. The fact is ... smoking causes so many health problems ... I probably wouldn't want to pay for that either.

A lot of people who quit smoking become nazis about it.
And this whole thing isnt about if smoking is good for you or not.
It is about employers being invasive with your personal business.
Motorcycles are risky. You want a boss telling you you cant ride one?
Alcohol is bad for the liver and biliary system. You want an employer telling you that you cant have some?
You think it's about the health issue of smoking. I guarantee you that employers could care less about your health. This is about money.

[nebulous1]

Originally Posted by sheri257

Of course there's no diagnosis code for smoking but, when you do the health histories on these people smoking is involved in a large variety of cases. Particularly heart disease, asthma, COPD, etc.

I would definitely put diabetes in the top three causes of hospitalizations also but, you DO see a lot of smokers in hospitals. That's just a fact. For one thing ... they're always bugging us nurses to take them outside to smoke ... go figure.

You can pretty much bet that the vast majority of respiratory hospitalizations are related to smoking. If they don't smoke anymore chances are they did smoke at one time. And a big chunk of cardiac hospitalizations involve smokers and/or former smokers also.

I have asthma, and I don't smoke.

[mojow]

I do believe there's a political agenda going on and people don't see it. They are being led by the nose. There have been many other tests done that show that second hand smoke is not the threat that it's being made into.

Politics are exploiting the distaste that nonsmokers have for smokers. In effect, people that think it stinks and is a disgusting habit, can fight to have it banned because now they are in "danger" from someone's second hand smoke.

FORCES International - The Evidence - Second Hand (Passive)Smoke

FORCES - Researchers - W. Hamilton - American Cancer Society Admits "Mistake" in Ad

The Facts about second hand smoke - Agendas


This bottom link explores how our right to bear arms could be next but it comes at it from a totally different angle

Shocking quotes

[mojow]

Originally Posted by sheri257

Of course there's no diagnosis code for smoking but, when you do the health histories on these people smoking is involved in a large variety of cases. Particularly heart disease, asthma, COPD, etc.

I would definitely put diabetes in the top three causes of hospitalizations also but, you DO see a lot of smokers in hospitals. That's just a fact. For one thing ... they're always bugging us nurses to take them outside to smoke ... go figure.

You can pretty much bet that the vast majority of respiratory hospitalizations are related to smoking. If they don't smoke anymore chances are they did smoke at one time. And a big chunk of cardiac hospitalizations involve smokers and/or former smokers also.

I grew up with mom and dad smoking heavily. We took trips, one all the way to Mexico, in a car with windows hardly cracked. None of us 3 kids developed any kind of respiratory problems. My brother and I smoke, my sister doesn't.

All I want to point out is that there are so many kids now with asthma and other respiratory problems that are from non smoking homes. We are polluting our air with more chemicals than we are being told about. There were even certain types of carpet fibers that cause lung cancer, and I'm sure some of those carpets are still around in older homes today.

My son does have asthma and the doctor said he could do tests to find out what triggers it (orange blossoms do for sure, but so does one of the plants at the walmart garden center) but the doc said that even if he ran a huge battery of tests, we may never find all the triggers because there's billions of things around that can't be all tested for.

ps: I smoke outside. Even though cigarette smoke does not trigger him to have an attack, it is no doubt distasteful to him as it is to any non smoker.

Originally Posted by nebulous1

A lot of people who quit smoking become nazis about it.
And this whole thing isnt about if smoking is good for you or not.
It is about employers being invasive with your personal business.
Motorcycles are risky. You want a boss telling you you cant ride one?
Alcohol is bad for the liver and biliary system. You want an employer telling you that you cant have some?
You think it's about the health issue of smoking. I guarantee you that employers could care less about your health. This is about money.

Too true. Health care is a for profit business. Rules are made, not in the name of altruism, but in the name of increasing profit lines. And little by little, their greed will take away our rights.

[soontob]

Originally Posted by Sobefobik

I'm glad that they are doing this to smokers. Employers don't want their employees to be thinking about cigarettes and craving it all day long. It affects your work. It's not like the old days when you could smoke in the work place and a craving wasn't an issue. Of course, I'm glad because I don't want 2nd-hand-smoke.

Cigarettes are drugs as far as I'm concerned. Cocaine addicts don't get to shoot up when they're having a craving. They can't go outside and do that, so why should smokers be able to? I know it's not quite the same thing, but it is still a drug.

Oh please give me a break.
I can't even believe you'd say this. No, people don't want others to smoke in the work place but NOBODY can control what I do when I'm off the clock and for a business to think they can is outrageous.

[mojow]

And it's ironic that health care can start to tell us how to live "for our own good", yet we have our food so pumped full of chemicals and our air polluted with toxins, and no one is concerned.

If you park in the garage and shut the garage door and keep your car running, how long will it take you to die? But put a bunch of cars on the roads, and since those same toxins are diluted, then they are safe and have no long term effects?

[cpg35223]

Hold the phone. I'm going to be Mr. Unpopularity here.

I owned a business for ten years. I hated having smokers on my staff.

Not because it's a dumb habit, mind you. But because smokers have no clue how much time they waste in a day.

For example, I had a receptionist who smoked. Every hour or so, she would disappear down the elevator shaft to smoke. By the time she rode down the elevator, fired up her cigarette, and got back on the elevator, she would be gone for 10-15 minutes. And while she was there, she would be shooting the breeze with the other smokers. Meanwhile, back upstairs, the phones are ringing, and all the non-smokers are pulling the oars.

I sat down and figured it out. The smokers on my staff probably spent 20-30 minutes a day smoking. That's 100-150 minutes a week. That's 5000-7500 minutes a year. That's 2-3 work weeks a year!

I'm not Simon LeGree by any measure of the word. But that's a huge difference in productivity. And smokers really can't seem to accept that.

[soontob]

Originally Posted by cpg35223

Hold the phone. I'm going to be Mr. Unpopularity here.

I owned a business for ten years. I hated having smokers on my staff.

Not because it's a dumb habit, mind you. But because smokers have no clue how much time they waste in a day.

For example, I had a receptionist who smoked. Every hour or so, she would disappear down the elevator shaft to smoke. By the time she rode down the elevator, fired up her cigarette, and got back on the elevator, she would be gone for 10-15 minutes. And while she was there, she would be shooting the breeze with the other smokers. Meanwhile, back upstairs, the phones are ringing, and all the non-smokers are pulling the oars.

I sat down and figured it out. The smokers on my staff probably spent 20-30 minutes a day smoking. That's 100-150 minutes a week. That's 5000-7500 minutes a year. That's 2-3 work weeks a year!

I'm not Simon LeGree by any measure of the word. But that's a huge difference in productivity. And smokers really can't seem to accept that.

I see your point there. However; most smokers I know stick with their break time to smoke, not every hour.
If someone is taking advantage of breaks then that should be a problem, not the smoking itself.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

I do have to say one thing about smokers. Because many of them get stuck smoking in the same area and end up becoming friends with a large range of people from within an organization, that if you want to get to know what is going on in an organization head for the smoking area and get to know the people in that group. Where I work you have people from every level smoking together talking about work. It is a great place to network within the organization. If I were to move to another job I would find out where the smokers hang out and do a little networking.