Helping people to stop smoking: a study of the nurse's role

Sixteen trained nurses from various clinical backgrounds participated in a project designed to describe the process and assess the outcome of their attempts to help a range of patients and clients to stop smoking. A case-study approach was employed and the nurses initiated 68 health education interventions related to smoking cessation. All interventions were tape-recorded and data on patients' and clients' characteristics, smoking history, health beliefs and motivation to give up smoking were also collected. Forty-two patients were followed up 1 year post-intervention. Data collected at this time revealed that 17% had successfully given up smoking, while a further 12% had substantially reduced their cigarette consumption. These findings compare very favourably with those of previous studies in which general practitioners have attempted to help patients stop smoking. The results of the research reported here therefore suggest that nurses have enormous potential for fulfilling a highly effective health education function.