Smoking cessation in 2019

With No Smoking Day taking place on 13 March and people increasingly wanting to manage their own health, it may be the ideal time to encourage patients in your caseload to kick the habit. Tobacco is the leading cause of chronic illness and preventable death worldwide (Ryan et al, 2019), and the risk of heart attacks is doubled in people who smoke compared to that in non-smokers (British Heart Foundation, 2019). Nurses in the community can play a central role in supporting patients to quit smoking and improve their health outcomes.

Encouragingly, smokers in Great Britain are on the decline, as an increasing number of people are attempting and succeeding at quitting (Office for National Statistics, 2018). Nonetheless, the overall smoking rates remain high across the globe (Ryan et al, 2019).