There's a new bedside education program that has recently been implemented at Porter- Valparaiso Hospital Campus. These new educational efforts have been made possible through a grant from Valparaiso University.
The new program is based upon hospital admission information. From that information leading nurses are alerted to the patient's tobacco use status. If the patient is a tobacco user they are then provided with bedside education tailored to their experience along with information to help them quit.
Nurse Kelly Spagna is very excited to be coordinating the new education effort.
"I am excited by the early success of the program. Because patients cannot smoke within the hospital and are usually experiencing health problems associated with their tobacco usage, it has proven to be a teachable moment. Along with the success of this new program, we hope to soon turn our efforts campus wide. Besides being a nurse with a background in Oncology, I am also a Dental Hygienist, I have seen too many unfortunate and very preventable situations resulting from the tobacco industry. I am part of the Porter County Tobacco Education & Prevention Coalition; I promote the Indiana quitline as a successful tool for patients and their families to aid them in their cessation efforts. I think this program is another reason for Valparaiso to be proud of their Hospital and most certainly a decision that will improve the health of our citizens."
Nurses participating in the new program utilize the Indiana Tobacco Quitline as their most powerful tool. This is because the quitline is a state funded program by the tobacco settlement suits, that offers a FREE 2-week supply of nicotine replacement therapy as well as receiving a quit coach that will help with a customized quit plan for each individual electing to quit using tobacco.
Although tobacco use is the single greatest cause of disease and death in the United States, it is also, however; the most preventable. It is because of that single word, preventable, that Porter is very serious about this new program. A program such as this can save many lives and heartache with just a few minutes of patient education. Additionally, there are tax dollars that will be saved by reducing the rate of hospitalizations in regards to tobacco related illnesses. (i.e.. high blood pressure, heart disease, heart attacks, diabetes, COPD, emphysema, asthma, etc.).
In the final stage of the bedside tobacco education program, the nurse and patient discuss finances and the fact that in one year the average smoker spends about $2,000.00 on cigarettes in Indiana! These numbers are reflective of spit tobacco as well.
"I am so pleased with how well received I am by the patients. My encounter with them is brief and as I said earlier, comes at a time when they are faced with a health factor usually related related to their habit. I share with them the positive aspects of quitting and how forgiving your body can be when you choose to stop tobacco usage. I also stress the effects of secondhand smoke to others around them, especially their children or the elderly. The health of these two groups is very crucial and they deserve to be tobacco free."
