Date of Award

5-20-2012

Degree Type

Evidence-Based Project Report

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Department

Nursing

First Advisor

Julie Brandy, Ph.D.

Abstract

Tobacco usage is the second leading cause of death worldwide. Smoking claims the lives of people more than acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, alcohol, accidents, homicides, suicides, fires, and drugs combined (Green & Briggs, 2006). In 2009, 46 million people in the United States were estimated to be smokers (Regents of the University of California, 2011). Despite the availability of guidelines to assess and provide smoking cessation interventions to patients, a disconnect exists in nurses being able to implement these guidelines. The purpose of this evidence-based practice project was to determine if an educational intervention for nurses about smoking cessation, as compared to current practice, increased nurses’ knowledge, skills, and confidence to counsel patients who smoke. Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation and the Stetler model were used to guide the implementation of this project at a moderately sized acute care hospital in Northwest Indiana. During a four month period, 22 nurses participated in a 30 to 45 minute educational session on general smoking information and assisting patients with quitting smoking. Participants completed pre- and post-tests. These tests included a 20 question knowledge test, the Skill and Confidence for Smoking Cessation Counseling tool, and a three item assessment of nurses’ interactions and providing counseling with patients’. Paired-sample t tests were conducted to analyze and compare the mean pre-tests to the mean post-tests scores. The paired- sample t tests demonstrated that the education intervention significantly increased participants’ knowledge, skills, and confidence immediately after the intervention (p < 0.5). There was no statistically significant increase in knowledge, skills, and confidence two to three months after the intervention was conducted (p > 0.5). However, a statistically significant increase in interaction with patients was noted after the educational intervention (p > 0.5). The findings suggest that the smoking cessation education intervention resulted in increasing meaningful interactions by nurses with patients who smoke.

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