WCLC 2016 | The role of nurses in smoking cessation

Mary Duffy, RSCN, RGN, RSM of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Victoria, Australia talks about the International Thoracic Oncology Nursing Forum (ITONF) nurses workshop at the 2016 World Conference of Lung Cancer (WCLC) of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) in Vienna, Austria. She discusses the importance of clinical trials for lung cancer patients, lung cancers nurse’s attitudes to patients, and how we think of clinical trials. Also discussed was the importance of clinical trials for the thoracic surgical group. The prevention of smoking cessation was brought up, particularly, the key function of lung cancer nurses in facilitating smoking cessation. Nurse-led follow up for patients is also important. The role of nurses is a challenge but it was concluded that it involves asking smokers questions and offering the opportunities to cease. It is important to consider that shame and stigma are key in terms of psychological as well as physical care when helping support patients throughout their lung cancer journey.