30 March 2009

Nicotine patches rolled out to hard-smoking health care workers

| johnboy
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Katy Gallagher has announced the rollout of free nicotine replacement therapy for Canberra’s health workforce who, for some reason, resolutely ignore the panic surrounding their addiction/habit.

    ACT Health will provide an initial eight week course of NRT in the form of patches as well as smoking cessation courses and counselling services.

    “If a staff member has difficulty quitting smoking within the initial eight weeks, a further eight week course may be obtained at no cost to the individual,” Ms Gallagher said.

    The Minister said that it was important to offer support and encouragement to both staff and patients to ensure that the new policy was a success in reducing the harmful effects of tobacco smoke.

    ACT Health facilities will also establish one separate designated outdoor smoking area for visitors and healthcare consumers per site, and patients who smoke will also be assisted to manage their nicotine dependence while at the hospital through NRT.

This is in advance of the unsightly and off-message workforce being shunted out of the carparks and into “designated outdoor smoking areas”.

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Hypnotism for smoking is supposed to work really well for some people.

Has anyone tried this in Canberra recently? I’d like to know of a good practitioner.

Pommy bastard11:19 am 31 Mar 09

Thank you for clarifying my point dvaey, it had got misinterpreted, obviously.

I am an ex-smoker myself, having quit cold turkey, three years ago.

gun street girl10:08 am 31 Mar 09

Then again, since when did we expect public servants to be an example to others? Heaven knows the hospital isn’t full of macrobiotic, gym junkie health freak workers – it’s really a matter of “do as I say, and not necessarily as I do”. Just quietly, I would anecdotally wager that the paper pushing parts of Health have a higher rate of smokers than those who deal directly with patients.

Timberwolf659:59 am 31 Mar 09

monomania said :

Pommy bastard said :

The irony of only handing out nicotine patches to the one group of pubes who should know far better than to smoke, has been lost on her I suppose?

I eventually gave up smoking using nicotine patches. What made it much harder to do was the intolerant crap that people like you came out with. It was harder to be a non smoker because people like you were. And who the hell wanted to be like you.

I have very little respect for the non smoking movement.

Now that they seem to be successful on that front they have joined the non drinking movement and the anti obesity movement, a legion imbued with the belief that everyone should be as wonderful as they are.

Well said:)

monomania said :

Pommy bastard said :

The irony of only handing out nicotine patches to the one group of pubes who should know far better than to smoke, has been lost on her I suppose?

I eventually gave up smoking using nicotine patches. What made it much harder to do was the intolerant crap that people like you came out with. It was harder to be a non smoker because people like you were. And who the hell wanted to be like you.

Not to rain on your parade, Monomania, but I think the point was that ONE department from the whole government has been given these non-smoking programs, being the ONE department who spend most waking hours telling their patients/consumers to quit smoking while doing it themselves. To take the smoking part out, it would be like the government bringing in a program targetting vehicle inspectors for defective personal vehicles. If they dont know its wrong from their career, what use is a 1hr course going to do?

toriness said :

I just gave up cold turkey. It was much easier than I thought. However I also agree with the above sentiments.

agreed. you have to have the mental desire to stop, that’s what is really effective. allen carr is very effective as a tool as well. i do recommend it. i am almost to the 3 month mark of giving up the rats.

the only thing worse than non-smokers treating smokers like lepers is ex-smokers treating smokers like lepers.

I admit it, i am a leper. I also read allen carr’s book, and the big factor that prevents me stopping, is fear. until i can overcome that fear, I will still be a smoker.

I just gave up cold turkey. It was much easier than I thought. However I also agree with the above sentiments.

agreed. you have to have the mental desire to stop, that’s what is really effective. allen carr is very effective as a tool as well. i do recommend it. i am almost to the 3 month mark of giving up the rats.

the only thing worse than non-smokers treating smokers like lepers is ex-smokers treating smokers like lepers.

goose said :

I remember the day we had a quit smoking session at work. This lady spent an hour preaching how bad smoking was? (like we didn’t know)and she was telling us how easy it was to give up?
When she had finished her session I asked her a question, “Have you ever smoked?” her answer was NO. Another ACT public servant working in an area without the required expertise.
Anyway, how can you quit with patches if you are feeding your body with the drug you are addicted to.
Read the book people. Allen Carr, Easy way to stop smoking.
I stopped as did all my mates who read the book.
As for Katy Gallagher, hehehe, no comment.

hey I read that book too! Haven’t had a cigarette in over a year and a half now – and had none of these “withdrawel symptoms” or “cravings” either.
great book. I’d recommend it highly.
although I must say with all my previous efforts to quit smoking (over a ten year period) it was seeming to be the hardest thing I’d ever tried to do (with my rates of failure) however after reading that book, it not only seemed to be the obvious thing to do, but an easy thing also.
bizarre.

I remember the day we had a quit smoking session at work. This lady spent an hour preaching how bad smoking was? (like we didn’t know)and she was telling us how easy it was to give up?
When she had finished her session I asked her a question, “Have you ever smoked?” her answer was NO. Another ACT public servant working in an area without the required expertise.
Anyway, how can you quit with patches if you are feeding your body with the drug you are addicted to.
Read the book people. Allen Carr, Easy way to stop smoking.
I stopped as did all my mates who read the book.
As for Katy Gallagher, hehehe, no comment.

gun street girl10:19 pm 30 Mar 09

Invariably it’s the overweight ones who do that. 😉

The lifts are useless already… hardly enough room to fit a hospital bed. Being a *hospital* lift, one would think they would have thought of that before they built the joint… Let’s hope Katy gets the lifts right in the new super duper hospital.

Katy should have the lifts in their building disabled too, it will encourage exercise for them to climb the stairs. Though that might be defended ferociously, Health staff love taking the lift to go up or down one floor.

This is in advance of the unsightly and off-message workforce being shunted out of the carparks and into “designated outdoor smoking areas

Unfortunately, I suspect most of them will be oblivious to how nauseating the designated outdoor smoking areas (aka oversize ashtrays) actually are.

I’ve spent too many hours beside a family member’s bedside watching ICU nurses duck out for smokes while nursing patients with COPD (or similar) to think that any logical discussion of the issue is going to prompt them to give up.

Felix the Cat8:29 pm 30 Mar 09

monomania said :

Pommy bastard said :

The irony of only handing out nicotine patches to the one group of pubes who should know far better than to smoke, has been lost on her I suppose?

I eventually gave up smoking using nicotine patches. What made it much harder to do was the intolerant crap that people like you came out with. It was harder to be a non smoker because people like you were. And who the hell wanted to be like you.

I have very little respect for the non smoking movement.

Now that they seem to be successful on that front they have joined the non drinking movement and the anti obesity movement, a legion imbued with the belief that everyone should be as wonderful as they are.

A guy at work used to be a heavy smoker. He was one of those arrogant ones who thought it was his god given right to smoke when and where he wanted and drop his buts when and where he wanted and gave no consideration to non-smokers. Then one day he decided to give up. Can’t recall if he used patches or gum or gave up cold turkey but not that important, he just doesn’t smoke anymore. Now he is the biggest anti smoker around, always criticising others for smoking and telling them what a disgusting habit it is.

Pommy bastard said :

The irony of only handing out nicotine patches to the one group of pubes who should know far better than to smoke, has been lost on her I suppose?

I eventually gave up smoking using nicotine patches. What made it much harder to do was the intolerant crap that people like you came out with. It was harder to be a non smoker because people like you were. And who the hell wanted to be like you.

I have very little respect for the non smoking movement.

Now that they seem to be successful on that front they have joined the non drinking movement and the anti obesity movement, a legion imbued with the belief that everyone should be as wonderful as they are.

Pommy bastard6:13 pm 30 Mar 09

The irony of only handing out nicotine patches to the one group of pubes who should know far better than to smoke, has been lost on her I suppose?

skulk around with our heads bowed like lepers. your point?

Those who can, do, and those who can’t…

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