Nurses' delivery of the Tobacco Tactics intervention at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center

Aims and objectives To determine (1) factors associated with nurses' perceived confidence in and importance of delivering cessation interventions to patients after receiving the Tobacco Tactics educational module, and (2) whether self‐reported delivery of smoking cessation services increased after the Tobacco Tactics educational programme was implemented. Background Intensive nurse‐based inpatient smoking cessation interventions are effective; however, due to a lack of nurse confidence, training and time, nurse‐administered cessation interventions are seldom implemented. Design Two cross‐sectional surveys among staff trained in the Tobacco Tactics programme, conducted at two months and 15 months post‐training. Methods Surveys were conducted to determine whether self‐reported delivery of smoking cessation services by nursing staff increased after delivery of the Tobacco Tactics training at a Midwestern Veterans Affairs Medical Center. All staff members who attended the training were eligible to complete the surveys at two and 15 months post‐training. Results Having a good understanding of the elements of smoking cessation interventions and satisfaction with training were associated with perceived confidence and importance of delivering smoking cessation interventions. Additionally, 86% of participants reported delivering cessation interventions 15 months post‐training compared with 57% prior to training ( p  < 0·0001). Conclusions Training nurses how to deliver tobacco cessation interventions increases delivery of cessation services. Relevance to clinical practice Nurse‐delivered cessation interventions have the potential to increase quit rates and decrease morbidity and mortality among patient populations.