Nurses Perspectives on Smoking According to Researchers,

Nurses Perspectives on Smoking According to researchers, about 18% of all registered nurses in America smoke. In order to help these people quit the habit, and thus improve their health and the health of those around them, the authors stated purpose is to "develop a national program to assist nurses in smoking cessation." (Bialous, 2004, p.

387) To accomplish this goal, the researchers conducted a total of eight focus groups, in four states, consisting of current and former smokers in order to determine attitudes toward smoking, quitting, and to examine preferences towards types of programs. Eight focus groups were conducted in four states, California, Kentucky, New Jersey, and Ohio. These states were chosen because California and New Jersey had low smoking prevalences, while the prevalence of smoking in Kentucky and Ohio were high.

By using both low and high prevalence of smoking, the researcher can obtain a national average for the results of the study. To obtain the participants for the focus groups, the researchers placed advertisements announcing the study to selected hospitals and nursing schools, as well as newsletters. Anyone wanting to participate simply called a toll-free number and went through a screening process and the authors then accepted the first ten eligible callers.

Since the study was being conducted to determine nurse's attitudes toward smoking and quitting, this is a suitable way to obtain nurses for the study, and it allowed any eligible nurse to participate regardless of age, race, sex, etc. 60 nurses in total participated in the focus groups with 59 completing the study. While researchers would always like to get the largest sample group possible, in this case 60 can be considered an appropriate number of test subjects as the actual dialogue from the focus groups was recorded, transcribed, and analyzed.

Each focus group had seven or eight participants and lasted 2 hours, which was enough time for each subject to participate in the discussion. There was a focus group moderator who guided the discussion, ensuring each participant had the opportunity to express their "ideas and feelings" about strategies involved in quitting smoking. (Bialous, 2004, p. 389) Finally, two of the research scientists were on-site as observers to ensure the study was conducted appropriately.

Since the purpose of the research was to study the attitudes of nurses toward smoking and quitting, the best way to obtain this information was by conducting a qualitative study. Focus groups were conducted which consisted of both smokers in one group and non-smokers in another, which allowed participants to discuss their views on the subject of smoking and how best to quit. These focus groups are a standard procedure in qualitative studies as they allow for subject participation.

As participant observation is also a key component of qualitative studies, there were two researchers on-site to act as "passive observers." (Bialous, 2004, p. 389) The participants also completed a questionnaire which involved "assessing demographics, smoking history, and knowledge about cessation and advocacy." (Bialous, 2004, p. 389) All of the focus groups were recorded and transcribed.