Practical tips that can be incorporated into daily nursing practice include the 4 A's: 1. Ask, 2. Advise, 3. Assist, and 4. Arrange follow-up. This includes asking the patient about his or her smoking habit, advising that quitting is the most important health promotion activity for one's health, providing information on available medical therapies and behavior modification tips and arranging follow-up care either by telephone within two weeks or face to face at follow-up visits.

Summary

Motivating a patient to quit smoking is a challenging nursing intervention. Several factors must be taken into consideration, such as the patient's age, culture, occupation, education level and smoking history. Assessing the patient's nicotine dependence and smoking triggers are vital to recommending an appropriate action and individualized treatment plan. Assisting the patient with behavioral modification is a critical nursing responsibility. Nurses in all settings are key professionals to initiate and implement smoking cessation strategies for patients. Their impact on the decline of smoking related diseases and deaths can be significant.