So you want ME to quit?

[MyPrnPleaseBSN]

So, as you all know, most hospital are going tobacco/smoke-free facility and smoking cessation is one of the top patient education/teaching when applicable.

As a nurse, I've always found it quite funny observing a doctor or nurse (who are also smokers) doing "patient teaching" on smoking cessation, especially after the RN or the MD just come back from a "smoke break" funky and all. haha. I can't take some people serious, that's all.. anyways.. CARRY ON guys! Nothing major!

[klone, MSN, RN]

I think that even if the "teacher" smokes, smoking cessation education can be done effectively. Sort of like "Okay, we both know that smoking is horrible for our health, and I know how difficult it is to quit; believe me, I'm dealing with it myself! Is there anything I can do to support you in your quitting efforts?"

Honestly, if I were a smoker, I'd probably appreciate getting smoking cessation education from someone who smokes over someone who has never smoked and has no idea what it's like to quit that horrible addiction.

[FineAgain]

I always tell smokers "no judgement here, I've been through it and I know how hard it is". I agree, I think they take it better from someone who understands the struggle.

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

There's really no such thing as smoking cessation education. Everyone knows smoking is awful. Everyone knows it's beneficial to your health to quit. Everyone knows that there are products like nicotine patches and gum that might make it a tad easier, but still miserable to quit. The role of the healthcare provider is mostly in assessing readiness, gentle encouragement, and maybe scripts for Chantix or Zyban. The only real education most patients may need is on safety of newer things, like e cigarettes, and availability of discounted nicotine replacement products.

[KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN]

.... nurse whose uniform is just about to burst at all seams at once teaches about how good it is to lose "some" weight.

.... nurse who didn't pee for 12 hours straight drives the patient crazy by very insistantly "offering" toileting every 60 min.

... and as a pinnacle, patient was taught about dangers of taking prescription painkillers by a nurse who was found dead asleep about 3 hours late with obvious signs of overdosing of the same class meds. A code was called, and patient somehow got to know the details. That was quite a show.

Long story short- we all know how bad is smoking/obesity/etc. We, although, cannot make people stop it, we can gently guide and applaud efforts.

[dirtyhippiegirl, BSN, RN]

There's really no such thing as smoking cessation education. Everyone knows smoking is awful. Everyone knows it's beneficial to your health to quit. Everyone knows that there are products like nicotine patches and gum that might make it a tad easier, but still miserable to quit. The role of the healthcare provider is mostly in assessing readiness, gentle encouragement, and maybe scripts for Chantix or Zyban. The only real education most patients may need is on safety of newer things, like e cigarettes, and availability of discounted nicotine replacement products.

I try to tailor smoking cessation to a patient's medical history. Everyone knows that smoking is bad for your lungs and will probably give you lung cancer or COPD. They don't always know that smoking is bad for your heart, for wound healing after surgery, etc. A 30-something guy who smokes but also works out a couple of times a week, is active, and has no problems with SOA/DOE might be more likely to re-consider smoking when framed with "hey, smoking increases your risk of CAD and your dad has his first heart attack at 50."

[FineAgain]

Long story short- we all know how bad is smoking/obesity/etc. We, although, cannot make people stop it, we can gently guide and applaud efforts.

Oh yes...well said! Well said! I love this ^^^^^^^