Round here smoking on hospital grounds has been banned for some years. It is enforced strictly for staff, less so for patients and visitors. The staff ban came in when I was still employed as a manager. Staff had to leave hospital premised (including grounds) if they wanted to smoke in their breaks and were not allowed to smoke in uniform.So far as I know, this rule still applies.
Personally if I was a patient, I would not want to be cared for by staff, any staff, who stink of cigarette smoke.
When the rules came in, staff raised the stress relief issue. My own response to that is that my stress reliever of choice is a stiff drink and does that mean that I should be allowed to have that at work?
I agree about stressed and dying patients and stressed relis, especially those relis spending long scared days in the hospital; I also agree about other patients having to walk through smokers...its difficult. part of the issue with patients smoking is that if they do it in a hospital provided area, the hospital is responsible for their safety as well as their health. Unwell frail people, especially if sleepy are really not safe with fire.