Premium
Counteracting ambivalence: Nurses who smoke and their health promotion role with patients who smoke
Author(s) -
Radsma Jenny,
Bottorff Joan L.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
research in nursing and health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1098-240X
pISSN - 0160-6891
DOI - 10.1002/nur.20332
Subject(s) - ambivalence , vulnerability (computing) , psychological intervention , medicine , health promotion , perception , nursing , health professionals , grounded theory , harm reduction , psychology , public health , social psychology , qualitative research , health care , political science , social science , computer security , neuroscience , sociology , computer science , law
Abstract Morbidity and mortality associated with smoking are major health problems. Nurses play an instrumental role in tobacco reduction, but their own smoking often interferes with this clinical opportunity. We conducted a grounded theory study with 23 nurses who smoked to describe how they managed the contradictions encountered when caring for tobacco‐dependent patients. Nurses counteracted ambivalence in one of four ways in relation to smoking policies: indifferent, evasive, engaged, and forced compliance. Influencing these approaches were nurses' perceptions of patients' need for tobacco‐dependence interventions and perceptions of their own vulnerability in addressing tobacco use. The challenge remains how best to support smoking nurses to enable them to become unambivalent participants in preventing and reducing tobacco dependence in their patients and themselves. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Res Nurs Health 32: 443–452, 2009