About
Welcome to Tobacco Free Nurses!
The goal of Tobacco Free Nurses is to build capacity among nurses to equip them to assist patients with tobacco dependence and to become more involved in tobacco control efforts. Tobacco Free Nurses work, nationally and internationally, with nurse champions, nursing and health professional organizations, academic centers and other partners in order to enhance nursing’ involvement in all aspects of tobacco control.
Tobacco Free Nurses (TFN) began in 2003 with the startup of the Tobacco Free Nurses Initiative (TFNI), funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It was the first national program focused on helping nurses to stop smoking and on providing nurses the education and resources; they need to help their patients quit smoking. The TFNI was led by Principal Investigator, Dr. Linda Sarna and co-investigator, Dr. Stella Bialous along with other colleagues and staff.
However, the work of TFN founders, Drs. Sarna and Bialous began many years earlier beginning with a passion to help relieve suffering in persons with cancer, especially lung cancer. That passion naturally led to a desire to help eliminate not only lung cancer suffering, but eradicate the number one cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide -- tobacco use. Tobacco Free Nurses was thus conceived by Dr. Sarna for the purpose of providing support for nurses who smoke and establishing a framework for engaging nurses in tobacco use prevention and cessation. As the largest group of health care professionals, nurses have tremendous potential to effectively implement smoking cessation interventions and advance tobacco use reduction goals proposed by the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the U.S. Healthy People 2020.
Meet the Tobacco Free Nurses Team
Currently the TFN team includes:
- Dr. Linda Sarna* School of Nursing, University of California, Los Angeles
- Dr. Stella Bialous* School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco
- Dr. Marjorie Wells* School of Nursing, University of California, Los Angeles
- Ms. Jenny Brook David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles
Tobacco Free Nurses Past and Current Projects
The TFN team has completed a number of national and international projects that you will find in our 'Projects' including the Tobacco Free Nurses Initiative (2003-2007), the Tobacco Free Nurses Leadership and Advocacy project (2003-2008); From Guideline to Practice: a nursing intervention to help smokers quit (HSQ) project focused on nurses from California, Indiana, and West Virginia (2007-2010); the Chinese Registered Nurses - Helping Smokers Quit project in Beijing and Hefei City, Anhui Province, China (2010-20012); the Czech Republic Nurses: Tobacco Cessation Leadership Workshop ('Train-the-Trainer) project (2010-2012; Eastern Europe - Helping Smokers Quit (2012-2014); the Registered Nurses Referral to Quitlines - Helping Smokers Quit project (RNQL-HSQ) in Kentucky and Louisiana (2013-2015), the The Eastern Europe Nurses’ Centre of Excellence for Tobacco Control in Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia (2014-2016), the Building Capacity of Portuguese Nurses to be Tobacco Control Champions (PT-TCC) 2017 - 2019, the Eastern Europe Nurses’ Centre of Excellence for Tobacco Control – Developing Nurse Champions for Tobacco Dependence Treatment (EE-COE II) project 2017 - 2019 based in the Czech Republic and partnering with Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, and the Building Capacity of Japanese Oncology Nurses to be Tobacco Control Champions (JP-TCC) 2018-2019.
TFN Mission Statement
As the largest group of health care professionals, nurses have tremendous potential to effectively implement smoking cessation interventions and advance tobacco use reduction goals proposed by Healthy People 2020. The Tobacco Free Nurses’ mission is to ensure that the nursing profession is prepared to actively promote health by reducing nurses’ barriers to involvement in tobacco control, including lack of education, smoking among professionals, and lack of nursing leadership. Nurses must be equipped to assist with smoking cessation, prevent tobacco use, and promote strategies to decrease exposure to second hand smoke. The Tobacco Free Nurses initiative accomplishes its mission through:
- Providing tobacco cessation education to practicing nurse clinicians,
- Providing tobacco control resources for use in patient care,
- Supporting and assisting smoking cessation efforts of nurses and nursing students,
- Enhancing the culture of nurses as leaders and advocates of a smokefree society.
This is the first national initiative focused on providing support for nurses who smoke and establishing a framework for engaging nurses in tobacco use prevention and cessation.
Awards received for Tobacco Free Nurses:
May 31, 2017: The American Academy of Nursing announced the designation of Dean Linda Sarna and ISNCC President Stella Auguinaga Bialous as Academy Edge Runners for the 'Tobacco Free Nurses' projects on World Tobacco Day 2017
Nov/Dec 2005: Ad Q Award for outstanding advertising in NurseWeek. In recognition of the advertisement that achieved outstanding readership response, as measured against all other ads appearing in NurseWeek November 2005 and December 2005.
November 2005: Media Award, American Academy of Nursing, to Tobacco Free Nurses Initiative, contributors Linda Sarna, Stella Aquinaga Bialous, Mary Ellen Wewers, Erika Sivarajan Froelicher
- May 2005: Tobacco Free Nurses selected as an exemplar in the World Health Organization publication to celebrate World No Tobacco day 2005: The Role of Health Professionals in Tobacco Control.
