NR 544 Week 3 TD: Building Research Locally; Supporting Research Nationally- Graded An A

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Nursing leaders are often presented with problems and issues, some that are departmental and organizationally focused, and others that have wide national impact. Consider the different levels of chall... enge for the nursing leader that move from local to state to national health policy agenda. Consider one project, either one that is local OR one that has national implications, that created policy change and was implemented in your organization. What are the greatest challenges on the project for the leader within the context of healthcare policy and use of evidence support? Cigarette smoking and tobacco use are significant risk factors for many chronic disorders such as stroke, lung cancer, and heart disease. According to the CDC (2019), tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable disease, disability and death in the U.S. Currently there are nearly 40 million adults that smoke cigarettes and about 4.7 million middle and high school students that use at least one type of tobacco product. As of February 28, 2019, approximately 2,000 U.S. youth under the age of eighteen have smoked their first cigarette (CDC, 2019). Every year at least half a million Americans die prematurely due to smoking or exposure to second-hand smoke, 16 million live with a serious illness caused by smoking, and the U.S. spends nearly $170 billion on medical care to treat smoking-related diseases in adults (CDC, 2019). As of January 1, 2019, the organization I work with no longer lets employees or patients use tobacco of any kind on the premises. The CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health (OSH) has taken the lead federal agency to focus on comprehensive tobacco prevention and control. The focus of the OSH is to save lives and money by preventing and reducing tobacco use in the U.S. The change within my organization was following the OSH focus on smoking cessation in 2019. Of course, this policy was met with complaining, however it went into effect anyway. One of the biggest barriers met was that they had a right to smoke and that not being able to smoke was infringing on their rights. However, in 2005 Georgia implemented the Georgia Smokefree Air Act that prohibits smoking inside and outside of most public areas. This legislation was passed in conjunction with the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) to protect the health of Georgians (DPH, 2005). The positives to smoking bans are (Ayres, 2015): • Reduce the risk of second-hand smoke • Lessen air pollution • Improve work productivity • Reduce healthcare costs • Decrease the possibility of job loss • Reduces waste • Contribute to lower energy consumption and personal expenses • Result in cleaner areas where food is prepared and manufactured • Lessens the chance that others will begin pick up the habit The negatives to smoking bans are (Ayres, 2015): • Take people’s freedom away • Can affect businesses • Are not effective • Drive people to smoke elsewhere • Result in lesser tax revenues for the government Whatever the issue, the ban needs to be enforced to make a healthier workplace for residents, visitors, and employees. References: Ayres, C. (2015). 14 central pros and cons of smoking bans. Retrieved from https://connectusfund.org/14-central-pros-and-cons-of-smoking-bans. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). Office on Smoking and Health at a glance. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/aag/tobacco-use.htm. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). Smoking & tobacco use. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/index.htm. Department of Public Health. (2005). A guide for business owners and employees: Georgia Smokefree Air Act of 2005. Retrieved from https://dph.georgia.gov/sites/dph.georgia.gov/files/SmokeFree %20Act_Booklet.pdf. [Show More]

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