Hospital indicators and inpatient behavior in a psychiatric hospital that implemented the smoking ban

OBJECTIVE: to compare hospitalization and discharge indicators, medication costs and patient behavior before and after the implementation of the smoking ban in a psychiatric hospital. METHOD: ecological, longitudinal and retrospective study carried out in a psychiatric hospital. Secondary data referring to 2142 hospitalizations were collected from medical records. The median test was used to compare the variables before and after the ban. RESULTS: after the implementation of the ban, there was a reduction in bed occupancy rate in male units for mental disorders (from 88.8% to 48.4%) and substance dependence (from 94.4% to 42.8%). There was a reduction in the mean length of hospital stay in the male chemical dependency unit (from 13.5 to 12.6) compared to the female unit (from 14.7 to 19.5). There was a reduction in costs of psychotropic drugs and expectorants, episodes of verbal/physical aggressions and physical/chemical restraints. CONCLUSION: the smoking ban changed hospital indicators, reduced costs and improved patient behavior, contradicting the myth that it results in hostility. It is hoped that this study will help nurses to review their beliefs related to smoking cessation, as there were positive results for interpersonal relationships and for the management of mental health services.