Authors

Víctor J. Cerón Márquez

Position

Diplomado en Enfermería. Responsable de la Unidad de Prevención y Tratamiento del Tabaquismo. Centro de Salud Tafira, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

Contact address

Avda. César Manrique 1, portal 12, 3º B. 35018 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

Contact email: victorjc@teleline.es

Abstract

Chilling figures and data on co-morbidity surround tobacco dependence, with a prevalence in Spain of 34.4% of the population, over 55,000 deaths/year directly linked to smoking, synergic percentages with other cardiovascular risk factors, an outrageous percentage of causality in a variety of cancers, etc. Primary care in general and the nursing professional in particular have the responsibility to respond to the urgent demand for prevention and treatment that smoking is presenting. The objective of this paper is to update the different interventions regarding smoking and to highlight the role of nursing professionals in this subject. In this sense, there are three levels of intervention available to be developed in the treatment of tobacco dependence: basic, advanced and specialised intervention. Basic intervention in smoking is the therapeutic option with the best cost-effectiveness ratio, which coupled with its simplicity, should make it the intervention of choice to be applied in 100% of the smoking population. On the other hand, advanced intervention requires a more structured and intensive attention, managing specific therapeutic resources such as pharmacological treatment and behaviour or lifestyle modification. Primary care nurses play a staring role to attract, manage and follow the smoker, with a proven record of efficacy in these type of interventions.

Keywords:

tobacco; smoking; nursing; basic intervention; advanced intervention; treatment of smoking; tobacco detox periodPrimary Care

Versión en Español

Título:

Intervención enfermera frente al tabaquismo