Tobacco Treatment Competencies: A Brief Review of Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nursing Education

Tobacco use increases morbidity and mortality among its users. The rate of tobacco use is declining in the general adult population yet is two to three times higher for those experiencing mental health disorders, specifically those with serious mental illness (SMI). Psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners (PMHNPs) are well-positioned to treat tobacco use in patients with SMI, yet tobacco training during nursing education, both in amount of time spent and content delivered, is not well understood and can leave PMHNPs ill-prepared to intervene.

A cross-sectional descriptive survey design was used to assess PMHNP programs nationwide to determine where tobacco treatment is located in the curriculum, the amount of time spent on tobacco treatment throughout the program, and program directors' general attitude and beliefs about the importance of tobacco treatment related to the scope of practice and impact.

Program directors or their representatives responded (N = 34) across all program types. Respondents reported either agreement or strong agreement with the importance of tobacco treatment in PMHNP programs. Most spent less than 1 hour or between 1 and 3 hours on tobacco treatment, primarily in psychiatric assessment and psychopharmacology courses. Most agreed or strongly agreed that this was within the scope of practice, yet agreement was less when asked about impact on outcomes.

PMHNP programs have an opportunity to improve perspectives on the impact psychiatric nurse practitioners can have on tobacco treatment outcomes and integrate curricular strategies to robustly integrate tobacco competencies.