title: Smoking cessation support: Indian nursing students' practices, attitudes and perceived barriers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Tobacco use is a significant global health issue. Studies that examined nursing students' attitudes towards smoking cessation support were limited from India.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess undergraduate nursing students' practices, beliefs, attitudes and perceived barriers towards smoking cessation support.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional descriptive design was adopted among undergraduate nursing students (n=178) using self-reported questionnaires.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Findings revealed that a majority (68.5%) of the students inquire about their clients' smoking habits and 78.1% of them advise patients who are smokers about the health effects of smoking. Although student nurses hold positive attitudes in the enthusiasm domain (28.8 ± 7.29), the majority of them lack self-efficacy towards smoking cessation support (14.2 ± 4.70). 'Patient's lack of motivation' (89.3%), 'lack of training/knowledge' (88.2%) and 'lack of communication skills' (77.5%) were the major barriers encountered by the participants during tobacco counselling.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings suggest that there is an urgent need to include a tobacco-control curriculum at undergraduate level to improve their competency in giving smoking cessation support.
authors.affiliation: Clinical instructor, College of Nursing, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: Vijayalakshmi
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Poreddi
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Nursing, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, India.
authors.forename: Sailaxmi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gandhi
authors.affiliation: Additional Professor, Department of Nursing, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: Rama
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chandra
authors.affiliation: Head of Department and Professor of Primary Care Research, Department of Health Sciences, University of Leicester, UK.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.affiliation: Additional Professor, Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: Suresh Bada
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Math
mesh_terms: D003144:Communication Barriers; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D016540:Smoking Cessation; D013338:Students, Nursing; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Attitudes; Barriers; Nursing students; Smoking cessation support