Tobacco.org

Stamping out smoking nurses' focus  

Nurses are joining forces in a new bid to stamp out smoking. There are around 600,000 smokers in New Zealand and it is thought at least half of them will die early because of their habit. A new report shows 90 percent of nurses here believe it is part of their job to help patients stop smoking, but under half of them have the training to do it.

Grace Wong is a nurse, and the author of the report into the attitudes of nurses towards smoking. She says a new group, 'Nurses for a Smokefree Aotearoa', is calling for more training. It was launched yesterday.

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• High Prevalence of Smoking Among Physicians in China 

FINDINGS: With 360 million smokers, China has more cigarette consumers than any other country — a smoking prevalence of 31 percent among the general population. Physicians can play a key role in encouraging smokers to quit, yet up to now, little has been known about Chinese physicians' attitudes and practices regarding smoking. In this first-of-its kind-study, researchers found that 23 percent of 3,552 hospital-based physicians surveyed were smokers, substantially higher than in the United States (3.3 percent), where the smoking prevalence in the general population is 20.9 percent, and the United Kingdom (6.8 percent), with 25 percent prevalence in the general population. This rate is also higher than in Japan (20.2 percent), where the smoking prevalence in the general population is 33.8 percent.

IMPACT: The findings are noteworthy because physicians who smoke are significantly less likely than their nonsmoking counterparts to advise their patients to quit smoking. As a result of this survey, the China Center for Disease Control has instituted an antismoking campaign that targets physicians and medical students and promotes smoke-free hospitals.

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RCN expert hails smoking ban 

Although the law has been brought in to protect the health of staff whose work is serving the public, but it is not only them who will benefit. On a personal note it will be wonderful to go out for a drink with friends and not come home smelling like an ashtray. . . .

I am proud to have been part of the large team of people who lobbied to bring this change about. This is the biggest public health change I have seen in my life and the benefits will be felt by generations to come.

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New law expands role of 51 'tobacco nurses'  

A Mississippi law that took effect July 1 expands the duties of the 51 nurses who are funded with state money and makes all of the state's estimated 390-400 school nurses answer to the Mississippi Department of Education's Office of Healthy Schools.

Providing more health education, promoting dropout prevention plans and collecting health-related data are now part of the expanded role of 51 school nurses, previously known as "tobacco nurses."

A new law that took effect July 1 broadens the responsibilities of the nurses who had done tobacco and substance abuse prevention education funded through The Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi, which no longer can use money from the state's tobacco settlement.

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Nurses to encourage patients to stop smoking 

The Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario is asking nurses across the province to encourage their patients to quit smoking.

Earlier this week the organization launched a new web site at www.tobaccofreernao.ca to promote RNAO guidelines for smoking cessation.

In a media release, Tazim Virani, director of the RNAO’s Best Practice Guidelines program, said the goal of the web site is to encourage every nurse in the province to ask people if they smoke, and provide the nurses with the information they need to advise, counsel and coach smokers.

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An international review of tobacco smoking research in the nursing profession, 1976-2006  

Tobacco smoking represents a contentious issue in the nursing profession, and one that has now become an important topic in nursing research. Despite this fact, the epidemiological quality of research varies widely, and it has been difficult to accurately determine the true incidence of smoking among nurses. Given these inconsistencies, we conducted a state-of-the-art review to identify international trends in tobacco usage among nurses, to ascertain how the epidemiological quality of research has improved over the past 30 years, and also to elucidate the directions in which nursing research has evolved. A total of 73 English-language studies that met the inclusion criteria were located and analysed. Overall, our review suggests that, while tobacco smoking among nurses appears to be decreasing in many countries during recent years, the international trend is far from uniform, and some developed nations still report high smoking rates among their nursing staff. . . .

In order to make the next generation of tobacco research data as comparable as possible, future scholars should consider devising and implementing a standardised format for conducting international tobacco smoking research within the nursing profession.

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Tobacco smoking habits among a complete cross-section of Australian nursing students 

This study was undertaken as a complete cross-sectional survey of tobacco smoking habits among 270 undergraduate students at an Australian nursing school . . .

This study suggests that although tobacco smoking remains fairly common among Australian nursing students, its prevalence and distribution vary according to the individual demographics of the group under study. Future researchers will need to consider the changing demographic base from which the new generation of nursing students are drawn.

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Area hospitals plan to ban tobacco 

Nancy Angelo started smoking 20 years ago. You could say she should have known better: She had just become a nurse.

Nursing, though, was one of the reasons -- "the stress factor," she said.

She had just finished a cigarette behind Sarasota Memorial Hospital, where she manages a ward handling some of its most complicated cases.

But she will not be able to enjoy that break for long. Sarasota Memorial, seven other hospitals, and the county health departments in Sarasota, Charlotte and DeSoto counties will announce today that their campuses are going tobacco-free.

Angelo and the half-dozen co-workers from across the hospital, congregating at tables with rusty coffee-can ashtrays as centerpieces, welcomed the news.

"If we're going to be promoting wellness, we're going to have to walk the walk," Angelo said.

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LETTER: Warding off smoke 

Re "No smoking: That means you too, Nurse," Jan. 21

It is a good idea to ban smoking inside hospitals. After all, hospitals are there so that people can receive quality healthcare, not be subjected to secondhand smoke. It seems hypocritical for nurses to take smoking breaks while they have patients inside the hospital dying of smoking-related illnesses.

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Nurses Health Warning 

NURSING staff at Banbury's Horton Hospital will face disciplinary hearings if they are caught continually flouting a smoking ban from the start of the New Year.

From Monday, the ban was introduced for staff, patients and visitors in the grounds of the John Radcliffe, Churchill and Horton hospitals as well as inside the hospital buildings.

Patients or visitors who are found smoking on site will be warned and may be asked to leave trust premises if these warnings are ignored.

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• Hospitals weigh bans on smoking  

More than a quarter-century later, despite being a nursing supervisor at a busy trauma center, McCandless has no plans to stop her two-pack-a-day habit. Three to four times during a 12-hour shift, McCandless takes a break and smokes in the hospital's designated area.

She knows the health risks.

"But I like smoking," McCandless, 36, said during a break at Louisville's University Hospital emergency room. "I don't have a desire to quit."

McCandless' quest to smoke at work will likely get tougher in coming months.

Following national smoking-prohibition trends, more and more hospitals are banning smoking on their properties. A recent survey showed about half of the Chicago area's 96 hospitals have done so or are planning for it.

Across America -- even here in the heart of tobacco country -- health-care establishments are fed up with people, including patients hooked to intravenous units and nurses who treat them, smoking on their premises.

As they consider bans, hospitals are becoming more aggressive in persuading their practitioners to stop smoking, not only because of concerns about their health but also because the use of tobacco by health professionals sends a hypocritical message to patients.

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Devon | Smoking patients face losing care 

Patients in Plymouth may have home care withdrawn if they continue to smoke while a health worker is with them.

Guidance to local Primary Care Trust (PCT) staff says they should not have to be subjected to second-hand smoke.

If a patient continues to light up while a nurse is on a home visit, care could be withdrawn as "a last resort".

The policy, which also bans staff from smoking on PCT premises, comes into force in January, six months before a national smoking ban in public places.

The guidance says that if patients or their relatives refuse to stop smoking, a line manager will be informed.

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HEHIR: Nursing a grudge against smokers 

In September 2006, the Ohio District Court of Appeals upheld a local court decision that a mother and former nurse with a 20-a-day habit should lose custody of her six-year-old son to her former husband because she smokes. . . .

Sadly, my professional organisation, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), has been at the forefront of pushing through these measures. Following its perceived successful campaign for the ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces, and in response to nurses’ concern that those of us who work in the community would not be covered by the smoke-free NHS plan, it has now published a ‘best practice guide’ for staff and managers.

Protecting Community Staff From Exposure to Second-Hand Smoke contains information and advice to help members protect themselves from secondhand smoke . . .

Coercive anti-smoking policies are worthless in terms of encouraging people to stop smoking, but are fantastic in contributing to the political and moral climate that treats smokers as pariahs. Do we really want professional organisations and trades unions demonstrating that they care for their members at the expense of patient care or service provision? All of this places unnecessary barriers between staff and clients - even between colleagues. Instead of a panoply of guidance, leaflets and regulations, whatever happened to simply asking people to put the cigarette out if you don’t like it?

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Nurse bids to help mentally ill inpatients quit smoking 

HOSPITALS for people with mental illnesses in Glasgow have launched a new service to help inpatients quit smoking.

People with mental problems have the highest smoking rates in the city, a level of 80% that's double the average.

And many need more help than the traditional 12-week programme available from groups and chemists across the city.

Denise Meldrum, a specialist nurse with experience in mental health care and helping smokers quit at a new clinic now running at Leverndale Hospital on Monday afternoons.

The sessions offer assessment, education and intensive one-to-one support to patients.

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• Smoking Cessation Therapy May Be Harmful for ICU Patients 

A common smoking cessation therapy used to help reduce adverse events associated with nicotine withdrawal may actually increase the risk of death for smokers admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). In a new study presented at CHEST 2006, the 72nd annual international scientific assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), researchers found that smokers admitted to the ICU who received nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) during their stay had a higher risk of death than smokers who did not receive NRT.

"In some critically ill patients, the development of nicotine withdrawal symptoms can worsen their prognosis. As a result, NRT is given to active smokers in the ICU to prevent nicotine withdrawal symptoms," said lead researcher Amy Lee, MD, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Minneapolis, MN. "The hemodynamic effects of nicotine may lead to increased heart rate, systemic arterial blood pressure, and constriction of the coronary arteries. Although these potential adverse effects of NRT have not been shown to worsen the prognosis of healthy volunteers and patients with stable coronary artery disease, they may be detrimental in critically ill patients."

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