Evidence Supports Nurse-Delivered Smoking Interventions, Researchers Suggest

Jan 24, 2008

A meta-analysis published this month in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews suggests that nurse-delivered tobacco cessation counseling is effective in helping patients quit smoking, United Press International reports. To evaluate the efficacy of various smoking interventions, researchers from Wayne State University College of Nursing assessed data from 42 randomized clinical trials involving a total of more than 15,000 patients. In 31 studies comparing nurse-led interventions with a control or conventional care, nurse involvement was associated with a significant increase in the likelihood that participants would quit smoking, particularly when the counseling was delivered in a hospital setting. Only 3 percent of patients given no intervention were able to quit smoking, compared with between 15 percent and 20 percent of those guided by nurses. While the lead study author acknowledges that nurses already have heavy workloads, she suggests that an investment in smoking cessation interventions could head off future health complications and "reduce [nurses'] workload" in the long run (United Press International, 1/23/08; Rice and Stead, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 1/23/08 [subscription required]).

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