A cluster-randomized trial on smoking cessation in German student nurses

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Public Health
• Nursing Research

Background:

• Smoking remains a significant public health concern, particularly among healthcare professionals.
• Effective strategies are needed to address smoking behaviors within nursing education.
• Nurses play a crucial role in patient smoking cessation counseling.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of a targeted intervention on smoking cessation among student nurses.
• To evaluate the intervention's effect on nurses' professional role in advising smokers.
• To determine if the intervention influences the personal smoking behavior of student nurses.

Main Methods:

• A cluster-randomized trial involving 956 student nurses across 32 nursing schools in Germany (2003-2004).
• Intervention group received 3 days of training focused on advising patients to quit smoking.
• Follow-up after 13 months assessed changes in smoking status and related factors.

Main Results:

• The intervention group showed a non-significant trend towards less smoking cessation compared to the control group (OR 0.69).
• Significant improvements were observed in medical knowledge (P=0.0056) and competence in advising smokers (P<0.0001).
• The program did not directly impact the individual smoking behavior of student nurses.

Conclusions:

• The educational intervention effectively enhanced student nurses' medical knowledge and their ability to counsel smokers.
• The approach was not successful in reducing the personal smoking behavior of the participating student nurses.
• Further strategies may be required to address smoking cessation within nursing student populations.