Prevalence of nurse smokers and variables identified with successful and unsuccessful smoking cessation.

A mailed survey of 823 randomly selected registered nurses, constituting an 82% return rate, was conducted to determine the prevalence and quit rate of smoking related behaviors. Variables identified with successful quitters and continuing smokers also were investigated. The findings revealed that nurses have a decreased proportion of current smokers, an increased proportion of never smokers, and an increased quit smoking rate. The smoking cessation method used most frequently by successful quitters was "cold turkey".