Nurse practitioners' knowledge, practice and attitudes about tobacco cessation & lung cancer screening.
OBJECTIVE
To determine nurse practitioners' (NPs') knowledge, practice, and attitudes about tobacco cessation counseling and lung cancer early detection.


METHODS
A descriptive, cross-sectional survey design was used to examine NPs' approaches to primary and secondary prevention of tobacco use among patients in western New York.


CONCLUSIONS
Among the 175 respondents, NPs appropriately counseled tobacco users on tobacco cessation. However, there was limited understanding of first-line pharmacological agents used for tobacco cessation and of how to manage treatment for a patient at high risk for lung cancer.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest the need to implement professional educational programs aimed at conveying not only the importance of tobacco cessation counseling but also information on the most effective first-line pharmacological agents and appropriate management options for patients at increased risk of developing lung cancer.
D000328:Adult; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003376:Counseling; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009518:New York; D009722:Nurse Practitioners / Q000193:education* / Q000592:standards*; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D012307:Risk Factors; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000379:methods*; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires