title: Hospital efforts in smoking control: remaining barriers and challenges.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study reports the barriers and challenges for hospital tobacco control efforts after the institution of smoke-free policies.
  
  
  METHODS
  Surveys of employees and inpatients of five hospitals in Augusta, Georgia, were conducted and evaluated 4 months after joint hospital implementation of smoke-free policies. A random sample of 1997 employees and a convenience sample of 517 inpatients returned usable surveys.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Although attitudes to the hospital bans on smoking reflected strong support for smoke-free policies, four out of five hospitals reported significant implementation problems. Despite the bans, 49% of patients who were smokers continued to smoke while hospitalized, and almost one half of all hospitalized smokers had received no advice to quit smoking from a physician or a nurse since admission. Employees and patients both agreed that the smoke-free policies had benefited employees more than patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite achieving a smoke-free status, there are many challenges that remain for comprehensive hospital tobacco-control efforts. Hospitals and health care professionals must remain particularly alert and attentive to the needs of patients and employees still addicted to tobacco.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
authors.forename: A O
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: Goldstein
authors.forename: W R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Westbrook
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Howell
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Fischer
mesh_terms: D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D016134:Organizational Policy; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010564:Personnel, Hospital; D012494:Sampling Studies; D016540:Smoking Cessation; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000517:prevention & control
chemical_list: D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution