Posted on 02/26/2006 4:41:16 AM PST by SheLion
A WOMAN in a wheelchair must go outside into the cold weather for a cigarette even though she is 93 - because smoking is banned in her nursing home.
Gladys Gornall, known as Chris, of the Norwood Lodge Nursing Home in Nore Road, Portishead, took up smoking 10 years ago after her husband died.
Daughter Joan Mock, 68, says it is the only thing she has left that keeps her happy.
And she says she fears her mother is more likely to die from exposure to cold winter weather than from smoking.
Mrs Mock said: "She's 93, she's in a wheelchair and she has to smoke outside. Last week I had to stand outside with her with an umbrella over her while it rained. We know it's not politically correct any more, but she is old and she will die of hypothermia rather than smoking at this rate."
Mrs Gornall said: "I'm sick and tired of going out there in the cold. I'm fed up with the whole situation. What else have I got to look forward to? I've got no other pleasures."
Mrs Mock said the home used to have a small room where smokers could light up. But she said the smoking ban in the building has now been enforced for health and safety reasons.
She said: "For God's sake, what can she do? There aren't any other smokers in the home now. This is all she has left as her bit of independence. It's so pathetic."
She said relatives of other residents at the home have sympathised with Mrs Gornall's plight.
The only real health problem the pensioner has is osteoarthritis in her knees.
Mrs Mock said: "She says they aren't going to stop her having a fag."
Mrs Gornall moved into the home with her husband, Albert, in 1996 but he died within weeks of their arrival. She took up smoking soon after his death.
Gill Lee, group operations manager for Belmont Care, which owns the home, said the non-smoking policy had been in place since before Mrs Gornall went into the nursing home. She said: "We've had a policy for years in Norwood Lodge of no smoking, mainly on health and safety grounds.
"Mrs Gornall, her daughter and her social worker had a meeting with the matron in May 2005 to explain to her the no-smoking policy in the home, and this was confirmed to her in writing."
She said none of the staff smoke inside the building. But she would not comment on whether the company's policy on enforcing the smoking ban had been tightened.
And she said allowing Mrs Gornall just to smoke in her own room would be "even worse".
She said: "To allow smoking in their room would cause even more health and safety issues."
/sarc
This sure is pitiful................
Even young people set their houses on fire and burn themselves to a crisp by falling asleep while smoking. The health issue is the woman's own problem (although I see she's only been smoking since the age of 83). The safety issue is another thing altogether.
"She says they aren't going to stop her having a fag."
No....I'd say they're definitely not worried about political correctness.
Yes, In another twenty years she might get lung cancer.
Don't forget...it's likely many of the residents are on oxygen therapy. That doesn't mix well with smoking.
Speaking from experience (myself and others) it's fairly common for someone to take up smoking late in life after a personal loss (divorce or death of spouse) and she has my sympathy. However, rules are rules. If the only thing in life she enjoys are cigarettes she can move her butt outside in her wheelchair ... or find something else to enjoy.
I've been around nursing homes for most of my life. Up until about 10 years ago, no one gave smoking a second thought. Many homes still have smoking lounges with scheduled smoking breaks for residents. Few allow them to smoke in their rooms.
The oxygen safety issue is a non-starter. There has been smoking in nursing homes and use of oxygen for well over a half a century.
To be blunt, Granny would run out of Lucky Strikes if put out of doors to toke in this winter weather.
Why is everyone running around Pell Mell with a recessed filter attitude towards these few dwindling L&M's (Lucky Mothers) who are apparently immune to lung cancer?
Granny has come a long way, Baby!
The anti-smokers really know how to descend to new depths!!
They should put a Biozone air purifier in her room or make a small room available and put a Biozone in that room.
Either way, the smoker would be a non-issue.
The oxygen safety issue is a (fire) starter. It only takes one incident (which I am sure has occured at least once in the many nursing homes) to make everyone wonder why it was ever allowed in the first place.
It is interesting how the elite are all of a sudden so concerned about human life with all the smoking bans. Oh wait a minute, they don't care if a 94 year old woman dies...
What about the water safety issue. There is running water in these places that the patients could drown in. Damn safety loon. Besides we should be filing down all the sharp points so they don't puncture themselves. Speaking of sharp points, come over here and let me run my file over the top of your head.
Those Cigarettes are going to kill that old woman. Doesnt she know the health risks? She could get lung cancer and cost us a ton of money taking care of her.
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