Smoking behavior among student nurses: a survey.

The study describes the smoking habits of student nurses and determines the correlates of smoking initiation, continuation, and cessation. The sample included 1,163 students attending 10 nursing schools in Buffalo, NY. Data were gathered by means of a self-administered questionnaire. Approximately 30 percent of the students were current smokers, 25 percent were exsmokers, and 45 percent had never smoked. More than half of the smokers (57 percent) expressed the desire to quit, and 81 percent had tried to do so in the past. Major reasons for trying to quit were to protect future health, save money, self-discipline, and pressure from significant others. Most (90 percent) of the students who had tried to quit had attempted to do so on their own and all at once. Knowledge of the health consequences of smoking was not significantly related to smoking behavior. These data suggest the need for health educators to promote personal health practices among their students that are congruent with the goals of the nursing profession of health promotion and disease prevention.