| Summary: | Introduction
Smoking continues to be a significant public health issue, but nursing
students do not receive sufficient training on tobacco cessation education.
Integrating the 5As behaviors for tobacco cessation into a compulsory course
could improve nursing students’ skills and increase their clinical behaviors for
assisting patients in quitting smoking. The aim of this study was to evaluate the
impact of evidence-based tobacco cessation education on the perceptions and
behaviors of nursing students who are assisting patients to quit smoking.
Methods
A prospective single-group design was used to evaluate the perceptions
and behaviors of 626 senior nursing students enrolled in an education program, at
three time points: baseline, 3 months post education, and 6 months post education.
Data were collected, before and after the tobacco cessation education, using
assessment tools for knowledge, attitudes, and the 5As behaviors for assisting
patients to quit smoking.
Results
A total of 572 senior students completed the baseline survey, 289 students
completed the survey 3 months post education, 348 students completed the
survey 6 months post education, and 285 students completed all three surveys.
Knowledge and self-efficacy of tobacco cessation were improved dramatically
(p<0.05) after the education program, compared with the baseline survey. At
6 months post education, compared with at 3 months post education, nursing
students reported more interventions of asking, advising, assessing, assisting, and
arranging smokers to quit smoking (p<0.05).
Conclusions
The integration of tobacco cessation education into compulsory courses
could improve clinical skills and enhance the behaviors of nursing students for
assisting patients to quit smoking.
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