A nurse-managed smoking cessation intervention during diagnostic testing for lung cancer.

Purpose/objectives: To determine the effectiveness of a nurse-managed smoking cessation intervention.

Design: Prospective, descriptive, one-group, pretest/post-test.

Setting: Urban, academic, tertiary-care setting.

Sample: Fifteen adult male and female smokers with a suspected diagnosis of lung cancer who were admitted to an inpatient thoracic surgery unit for diagnostic testing.

Methods: Subjects received a nurse-managed smoking cessation intervention during hospitalization with subsequent verification of smoking status at a clinic visit six weeks postintervention.

Main Research Variables: Self-reported smoking status and saliva cotinine levels at six weeks postintervention.

Findings: Eighty-seven percent of subjects reported an intent to quit smoking within the month. At six weeks postintervention, 93% of the subjects reported at least one cessation attempt, and 40% were confirmed, via saliva cotinine analysis, as abstinent from smoking during the prior week.

Conclusions: A nurse-managed smoking cessation intervention was successful in achieving short-term cessation.

Implications For Nursing Practice: Hospitalization for diagnostic testing associated with lung cancer may represent an opportunity for nurses to deliver a smoking-cessation intervention.