Hospital Nurse Counseling of Patients Who Smoke.

Abstract

Smoking-related diseases comprise a large portioti of hospital admissions. This paper reports the attitudes and behaviors of a group of hospital-based nurses toward counseling patients on smoking cessation. The majority of nurses do not counsel patients who smoke. Counseling practices vary with the smoking status of the nurse. Barriers to increased nursing participation in counseling etforts include the lack of counseling training and physician failure to utilize nurses in this role