Aureus Medical Group discusses travel nurses and encouraging patients to quit smoking

Omaha, NE (May 18, 2015) - There is a good chance that as a travel nurse, you have encountered a patient who smokes. Travel nursing jobs leader, Aureus Medical Group, discusses how travel nurses can encourage patients to quit smoking.

Although public health efforts to cut down smoking rates have led to a major decrease in cigarette use, a sizable percentage of the patients you see likely smokes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one in five U.S. adults (46.6 million people) smoke, and four out of 10 nonsmokers and one out of two kids in the U.S. are exposed to secondhand smoke. Smoking cigarettes is also the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S.

Understanding your patients who smokeIt's very important as a travel nurse to encourage your patients to avoid tobacco if they don't smoke, and urge smokers to quit. According to the World Health Organization, there are five stages that smokers can be grouped in when it comes to smoking cessation, which are as follows:

• Pre-contemplation: This is a stage when a person is currently smoking and has no plans to stop.
• Contemplation: Contemplation occurs when a patient is considering giving up cigarettes, but has no plans or strategy for moving forward with this decision.
• Preparation: A patient has scaled back on his or her smoking habits (such as reducing the amount of cigarettes he or she smokes in a day) or is mentally ready to make serious changes to his or her lifestyle in order to quit.
• Active: Your patient is already in the process of quitting, but has lapsed several times.
• Maintenance: This is a person that has been tobacco-free for six months or more, but requires counseling or other measures to continue to stay away from tobacco. 

Read the full article for more on travel nursing and patients who smoke.

About Aureus Medical Group:

Aureus Medical Group is a national leader in healthcare staffing specializing in the successful placement of Nursing, Advanced Practice, Cardiopulmonary, Diagnostic Imaging, Medical Laboratory, Neurodiagnostics, Radiation Oncology, and Rehabilitation Therapy professionals, as well as Physicians, in hospitals and medical facilities nationwide.  With more than 30 years of experience, Aureus Medical offers a full range of staffing options, including national contract (travel), local contract, and direct hire.  Aureus Medical is the largest affiliate of Omaha-based C&A Industries, a leading provider of human capital management solutions for more than 45 years.