Nurses and smoking

Reducing the risk of chronic respiratory disease

Funded by the Burdett Trust for nursing as part of their nursing respiratory disease grants, C3 Collaborating for health is working with Edinburgh Napier University, and Smoke Free App, one of the leading Apps for supporting people in stopping smoking. The programme aims to reduce the risk of respiratory disease by understanding how many nursing staff smoke, their reasons for smoking and the pressures this creates for them. Using this information we will look at what support can be provided to get them to stop smoking. This will help them to support patients more effectively and lower their risk of chronic respiratory disease.

Background:

Reducing the risks of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is fundamental to the vision and work of C3. Smoking is a key contributor to many NCDs, including chronic respiratory disease. It is also clear that we need to do more to support healthcare professionals not only when it comes to looking after their patients’ health but also their own health. Nursing staff are pivotal in supporting services for preventing and treating NCDs, and yet, globally, nursing staff are struggling. Learn more about this in our blog Nursing workforce and NCDs double crisis

What are we doing?

This programme will be running in 3 phases, January 2024 through to December 2024:

Phase one will run from January 2024 – July 2024

Assess the scale of the problem, working with Edinburgh Napier University to analyse the ONS health survey data on smoking rates amongst nursing staff.

Phase two will run from February 2024 – September 2024

Explore, with semi-structured interviews and focus groups, why nursing staff smoke and the challenges they face in stopping.

Phase three will run from May 2024 – December 2024

Support nursing staff to stop smoking. Offering FREE codes for the Smoke Free App and developing a digital toolkit with educational resources.

Get involved:

Are you a nurse or nursing support worker who is a smoker and wants to participate in an interview or focus group and receive a £50 Love2Shop voucher or try out the app?

Click HERE to register or scan the QR code