Effect of an inpatient nurse-directed smoking cessation program

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of a nurse-directed smoking cessation intervention for adults hospitalized in a small community hospital using a quasiexperimental, prospective, longitudinal design with biochemical validation of self-reported tobacco abstinence. Sixty-eight inpatients were assigned to either a control (n = 30) or an intervention group (n = 38). The control group received smoking cessation literature. The intervention group received smoking cessation literature and a nursing intervention. Each member of the intervention group was randomly assigned to a one or four telephone call subgroup for post discharge nurse follow-up at 3 months. Fifty-five participants completed the study. Smokers receiving the nurse-directed intervention were significantly more likely to be tobacco abstinent at 3 months (n = 17, 55%) than smokers in the control group (n = 5, 21%). Within the intervention group, tobacco abstinence at 3 months was not significantly different between the one and four telephone call groups. For the total sample, smoking relapse was significantly higher for participants who lived with another smoker.