Nurses' perceptions of co-worker responses to smoking cessation attempts

A descriptive research design was used to answer the following question: What is the nature of nurses' perceptions of their co-workers' responses to quit attempts, among nurses who have experienced relapse in smoking cessation? A questionnaire measuring two discrete responses to quit attempts, namely co-worker support and co-worker discouragement (Sorensen, Pechacek, & Pallonen, 1986), was mailed to 5,418 registered nurses in the New York area. The response rate was 45%. Relapsers perceived that they received significantly more (p less than .001) co-worker support than co-worker discouragement during quit attempts. Nevertheless co-worker support occurred infrequently. Many smokers may have received no response from their co-workers. Further efforts to help nurses quit smoking may need to emphasize strategies for enhancing social support.