Translating smoking cessation research findings into clinical practice: the "staying free" program.

Hospitalization provides a unique opportunity for nurses to present smoking cessation interventions offered to patients. However, there exists little empirical information on the best strategies to transfer research findings on most effective cessation treatments into clinical practice. Described in this presentation is the "Staying Free" program, a research-based smoking cessation model for hospitalized patients who have been transferred into clinical practice settings in the United States and Canada. Lessons learned from the dissemination of this program offer insights on a systematic approach for implementing similar programs into smoking intervention and training and instituting policies for treatment of hospitalized smokers.