Tobacco dependence treatment & undergraduate nursing students

Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States affecting over 45 million smokers and contributing to nearly 500,000 deaths each year. Seventy percent of current smokers desire to quit annually but lack quitting resources necessary for success. Research has shown that nurses make a difference in promoting smoking cessation and providing treatment for nicotine dependence. Given the large number of nurses in the United States, nurses can influence treatment interventions aimed at significantly reducing tobacco-attributable disease and death. Evidence based therapies exist and nurses have demonstrated their effectiveness as interventionists. Clinicians with training in tobacco use dependence are more likely to intervene with patients than those who are not trained. Further, students in the health professions receive inadequate training for treating tobacco use and dependence. The absence of comprehensive tobacco prevention and cessation training in nursing education can result in lost opportunities for promoting cessation and nicotine dependence treatment. Aggressive curriculum changes to include education on treating tobacco use and dependence are needed for all health professionals. Researchers used the “Rx for Change: Clinician-Assisted Tobacco Cessation” program based on principles set forth in the U.S. Public Health Service Clinical Practice Guideline for Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence. This pilot study is a descriptive, non-experimental design including completion of pre-test and post-test survey questionnaires assessing students' knowledge about nicotine dependence treatment and perceptions of readiness to assist patients in quitting smoking prior to and following a standardized educational session. The study population includes entering nursing students, students beginning their last year of nursing education, and students who are already registered nurses or have a degree in another field and have returned to school for a baccalaureate degree in nursing. The presentation will include data on what these groups of nursing students know about nicotine dependence treatment prior to and following an educational session. In addition, data will include information on whether the educational session impacted students' perception of readiness to assist patients with quitting smoking. Finally, recommendations for including nicotine dependence treatment content in nursing education programs will be discussed.