Nursing leadership in tobacco dependence treatment to advance health equity: An American Academy of Nursing policy manuscript.

BACKGROUND

Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable disease, disability, and death in the United States and is a significant cause of health disparities.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper is to update the Tobacco Control policy paper published over a decade ago by the American Academy of Nursing's Health Behavior Expert Panel Tobacco Control subcommittee.

METHODS

Members reviewed and synthesized published literature from 2012 to 2024 to identify the current state of the science related to nurse-led tobacco dependence treatment and implications for nursing practice, education, and research.

FINDINGS: The results confirmed that nurse-led tobacco dependence treatment interventions are successful in enhancing cessation outcomes across settings.

DISCUSSION: Recommendations for nursing leaders include: promote tobacco dependence treatment as standard care, accelerate research on implementation of evidence-based treatment guidelines, reduce health disparities by extending access to evidence-based treatment, increase nursing competency in providing tobacco treatment, and drive equity-focused tobacco control policies.