Smoking Cessation - Essay Example

It is a significant factor in three out of the five leading death causes in the US – cancer, heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (Berndt et al., 2011). Nicotine is the addictive drug in tobacco. To curb these negative effects of smoking, cessation programs have to be promoted. Rice, Hartmann-Boyce and Stead (2013) define smoking cessation as the discontinuation of use of cigars, pipes and cigarettes. Smoking cessation reduces the risk of suffering from lung cancer and smokers who quit cause a reduction in their mortality ratio to 1.

20 in a span of 10 years of non-smoking. The nursing process provides a systematic framework in provision of professional and quality nursing care in smoking cessation (Maurer & Smith, 2013). It directs activities on smoking cessation towards health promotion and protection and prevention of associated diseases. After assessing the collected data on smoking problems from a community, it would be important for nurses to diagnose the data. According to Maurer and Smith (2013), this involves the analysis and synthesis of the assessed data in response to potential or actual health problems associated with smoking.

Rice et al. (2013) observe that this stage involves the determination of ineffective health management resulting from smoking. It also encompasses the determination of lack of information on smoking and its effects in the community. Having identified the smoking problem, nurses plan how to execute the smoking cessation plan so as to achieve the intended goals (Maurer & Smith, 2013). Planning involves setting of goals. It encompasses aiming at the patient demonstrating maintenance of more effective health patterns.

The patient should openly discuss the problems faced due to smoking and the benefits that cessation would offer. Nurses should also aim at keeping the patient free from being injured during the smoking cessation treatment. The intervention phase involves the nurse’s role of care for patients manifesting smoking related problems. This should meet the needs of the patient and develop a cessation relationship that teaches on smoking and the effect on an individual, family and community as a whole.

Nurses should organize for seminars, trainings and community education on smoking and the related lifestyle and assist in the development of a comprehensive care plan (Maurer & Smith, 2013). Health promotion partnerships would be used for strengthening social networks and developing smoking cessation support and influence policies. Thus, intervention generally involves maximization of therapeutic plans and minimization of factors that encourage smoking habits. The third phase would encompass executing the appropriate intervention.

With nursing focusing on the public, community level intervention would be appropriate for smoking cessation. The issue of smoking cessation could be approached from a community level where nurses devise approaches that would promote the community norm as noted by Berndt et al. (2011), where the benefits of smoking cessation is advocated for. It would be important to also plan for preventive approaches. According to Maurer and Smith (2013), this reduces known risk factors and enhances protective factors.

This nursing process should promote non-smoking habits in the community. As such, during detoxification, Rice et al. (2013) advocate for frequent assessments as the