Smoking Prevalence, Attitude, and Cessation Training among Nursing Students in Bhubaneswar, India-A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction The smoking habit of health professionals including nursing students may prevent them from providing cessation advice and counseling to their patients as one cannot persuade others to quit if he/she is smoking himself/herself. Objective The study aimed to assess the smoking prevalence, attitude, and tobacco cessation training among nursing students. Materials and Methods During January to April 2019, we conducted a cross-sectional study among 432 third-year nursing students of eight graduate nursing colleges of Bhubaneswar using the Global Health Professional Student Survey (GHPSS) questionnaire. Results Overall, 38 (8.8%) were current smokers. Majority of participants agreed that health professionals should receive specific training on smoking cessation techniques (91%), serve as role models for their patients and the public (94%), advise their patients to quit tobacco (96.1%). Current smokers were more likely to be males (adjusted OR [aOR]: 6.53, 95% confidence interval or CI: 2.61-16.36), those not supporting a smoking ban in discos/bars/pubs (aOR: 2.82, 95% CI: 1.13-7.05), those lacking knowledge about dangers of smoking (aOR: 2.48, 95% CI: 1.10-5.60), and those not discussing the reasons of smoking (aOR: 2.49, 95% CI: 1.05-5.93). Conclusion Sincere efforts must be undertaken in the nursing colleges to design and implement strategies to discourage tobacco use among nursing students and adequately train them on tobacco cessation techniques.