Nurses' smoking behaviour related to cessation practice

To examine the smoking behaviour, knowledge and attitudes of nurses, their willingness to provide smoking cessation support to patients, the accessibility of training in this area and their willingness to undertake future training in this area.

A randomised sample of qualified nurses (n = 1,074) in statutory, private and voluntary sectors and across a variety of specialties were surveyed by postal questionnaire. Four focus groups were conducted in various settings before and after the survey.

Of those who took part in the survey, 55% had never smoked, 19% were ex-smokers and 26% were smokers. Most agreed that nurses have a responsibility to help those who want to quit smoking. However, nurses who smoked rated their ability to help patients and their effectiveness as a role model lower than nurses who were ex-smokers or non-smokers.

Smoking prevalence among nurses is no greater than in the general female population. Nurses who smoke are less motivated to provide cessation support for patients, have less positive attitudes to the value of smoking cessation, are less likely to have received smoking cessation training and are less likely to want further training. These results have implications for nurses' own smoking status, as well as their attitudes to cessation training, health promotion practice and future research.