Nurses are asked to be "kind and non-judgemental" in series of videos released on a new website aiming to help nurses better understand and help smokers stop.
“No-one has asked smokers what they really want when they see nurses” says Smokefree Nurses Aotearoa Director Dr Grace Wong. “Core nursing principles include listening and caring for individuals. We know that nurses value hearing from their patients.”
Wong, a senior lecturer at AUT’s School of Nursing, said Smokefree Nurses wanted to help people addicted to smoking to achieve New Zealand's goal of being of being smokefree by 2025. She said one thing the group noticed was that the personal voices of smokers were largely absent from stop smoking training for nurses.
Smokefree Nurses worked with goodLife films to interview 34 smokers, ex-smokers and their family members. The candid short videos feature on the new website along with videos of four nurses working with patients who want to quit.
Wong said some of the smokers could not imagine a life without smoking but the majority really wanted to to give up and described how hard it was for them. The interviewees also expressed faith in nurses and wanted them to be kind and non-judgemental – despite unsuccessful attempts to quit smoking in the past. What they wanted from nurses including ongoing support and clearly explained options on how to stop their smoking habits.
The campaign went live on Thursday and the videos can be viewed at www.whatsmokersreallywant.co.nz More about Smokefree Nurses Aotearoa/New Zealand is available at: www.smokefreenurses.org.nz
