Improving the Delivery of Smoking Cessation Guidelines in Hospitalized Veterans

Inclusion Criteria

• Patients: The study sample will include general medical inpatients, aged 18 or older, who smoke at least one cigarette per day on average, regardless of their willingness to quit smoking. To increase applicability of study results, the goal is to enroll patients with characteristics that reflect the full range and distribution of patients observed in clinical practice. Current smokers transferred from intensive care units (or other monitored beds) to a general medical ward will be eligible.
• Nurses: The study sample will include staff nurses who are assigned to a general medicine inpatient unit at one of the participating sites.

Exclusion Criteria

• Hospitalization for less than 18 hours (e.g., patients admitted for overnight observation);
• Acute medical decomposition (e.g., acute respiratory failure requiring intubation, cardiac arrest, septic shock);
• Altered mental status;
• Unstable psychiatric disorder (e.g., acute psychosis);
• Dementia;
• Communication barrier (unable to speak English, hard of hearing, aphasic);
• Pregnancy;
• Terminal illness (<12 month life expectancy);
• No access to a phone or the absence of a permanent address;
• Admitted for treatment of substance abuse.

No patient will be included unless they are able to provide informed consent and agree to be contacted by telephone during follow-up (to assess smoking status).