Australian nurses' smoking behaviour, knowledge and attitude towards providing smoking cessation care to their patients

Study examined smoking-related knowledge, attitudes and practices of hospit al-based nurses The specific aims were: to determine the prevalence of self -reported smoking and the characteristics of hospital nurses who smoke; to describe nurses' knowledge of the health risks of smoking and strategies wh ich aid quilting; and to describe their attitudes to smoking and quitting a nd providing smoking cessation care. The sample was formed from all direct- care nurses from six large hospitals in the Hunter region of New South Wale s, Australia rostered on the randomly selected data collection days over 4 months in 1991 (n = 388, 98%). Participating nurses completed an interview measuring demographic and smoking history characteristics and knowledge of smoking-related diseases, quitting strategies and referral options (open-en ded questions). A self-completed questionnaire measured attitudes about smo king, quitting and nurse provision of smoking cessation care. Twenty-two pe rcent of nurses reported being current smokers and 21.5% reported being ex- smokers, with higher smoking rates reported by enrolled nurses compared wit h registered nurses. Knowledge about the health effects of smoking was high , but knowledge of more effective strategies to aid quitting and referral o ptions was poor. Nurses had positive attitudes towards assisting patients t o stop smoking (60%), but restricted this to patients who wanted to quit. O nly 21% felt competent to discuss cessation with patients and identified sk ills training as necessary. The findings suggest that smoking rates among n urses may be lower than those reported in past decades and lower than rates among women of the same age in the general population. The findings also s uggest that nurses, while perceiving a role in smoking care, require traini ng in the provision of smoking cessation care to hospital patients, and tha t hospital policies and nurse education providers need to strongly support the provision of smoking cessation by providing nurses with time, access an d incentive to undertake such activities.