Occupational health nurses’ personal attitudes toward smoking: A cross‐sectional study

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to investigate if experience in smoking intervention training influences attitudes toward smoking, discuss the role of health management programs of small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises, and analyze the current attitude of occupational health nurses regarding the hazards of smoking and responsibility to smokers to effectively facilitate smoking cessation support programs. METHODS: We conducted an anonymous self‐administered cross‐sectional survey of 108 nurses employed in occupational health services outsourcing specialized agency in Korea. We assessed the difference in attitude about smoking according to training experience in smoking interventions and perceived competence in counseling smokers using chi‐square test and Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: Occupational health nurses with the training experience of smoking interventions tend to perceive the harmful effects of smoking more seriously, compared to occupational health nurses without the training experience (P = .024, Fisher's exact test) and the OHSO nurses with the training experience tend to have professional ethics as health care professionals (P = .017, Fisher's exact test). Occupational health nurses having expertise in smoking cessation counseling tended to have professional ethics (P = .047, Fisher's exact test) and social responsibility as health care professionals (P = .022, Fisher's exact test). CONCLUSION: The occupational health nurses with training experience and expertise in smoking cessation counseling perceive the harmful effects of smoking more strongly and can enhance their professional ethics and social responsibility as health care professionals.