A talk with a nurse can persuade hospital patients to quit smoking
New research shows that self-reported quit rates among hospital patients more than doubled when nurses and other staff were trained to coach patients on how to stop smoking and to make sure they got the help they needed to make it happen, whether that meant counseling, patches, gum or prescription medication. "They were armed with everything they needed when they left -- medication, behavioral tactics, a manual to help them stay on track," said Sonia Duffy, a professor of nursing at The Ohio State University and lead author of the study, which appears in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine . "Hospitalization is the perfect time to help people quit. They're more motivated and nurses can explain how smoking harms their health, including slowing healing," said Duffy, who also works for the Department of Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System. The study of 1,528 patients in five community hospitals in Michigan looked at self-reported and lab...