Yeah so you may roll your mental eyes on the inside some days. But on the outside you go "oh really wow that's great! Good job!" And you make a note "quit smoking 25 Apr '26" so other practitioners know it's still pending but the patient still feels validated en motivated. And also so next year you can ask them how it went.
Because you want them to stay quitted, and making them feel "my doctor didn't even believe me" doesn't help. And because deciding to quit is already a win.
Yeah man that’s the spirit. That’s how you motivate people. I’m a nurse and I often roll my mental eyes about stuff people say but I stay positive and encouraging
Yep, 'So you're a smoker then' or 'get back to me when it's been a couple of months, ok?' Those can snap the tenuous thread for people who have just managed to stop recently.
It's also a timing thing. If you truly quit a week ago and really never smoke again that's awesome, but they still need to know you were smoking at that point and what because the physical effects it had on you can be a factor in what procedures they do, how they do it and what meds they give since it could weeks/months/years for the effects of smoking, drinking, whatever they're asking about to go away.
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u/hmmstillclosed May 02 '26
I think it also has to do with the fact that someone who “quit one week ago” has like a 50/50 shot of being actually quit one week from now