Tobacco Control Policy: Opportunities for Nursing Research

Background: There is a paucity of nursing research in tobacco policy. Recent national and international tobacco control developments offer an array of opportunity for nursing research. Description: We'll provide a review of nursing research in tobacco control, and ongoing challenges. Recent policy developments, research questions and opportunities they present for nurses include: the US Food and Drug Administration regulatory authority over tobacco products manufacturing, marketing and sales; the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and the upcoming United Nations Summit on Non-Communicable Diseases. Lessons Learned: Nursing researchers' contributions in the areas of tobacco prevention, cessation, and reduction of exposure to secondhand smoke are significant. However, gaps remain. A search of publications in nursing journals (1990 to 2009) indexed on PubMed, using keywords "tobacco control", "policy" and "nursing", yielded 43 papers, 16 of which were listed as reviews. Our experiences working with nurses from China, India, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Canada, New Zealand, among other countries, demonstrated that these gaps are both a national and international phenomenon. Gaps also exist in the development of nursing organizational policies addressing tobacco control; we will share our experiences in developing national and international position statements. Recommendations: Funding limitation is a barrier that professional leadership can address by prioritizing tobacco policy research as integral to nursing knowledge. Leadership from nursing professional organizations is needed to assist nurses develop new knowledge and evidence-based practice and policy in tobacco control. We will suggest ways through which nursing research can contribute to policy development.