BACKGROUND: Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in Europe and worldwide. Nurses, if properly educated, can contribute to decreasing the burden of tobacco use in the region by helping smokers quit smoking. AIMS: To assess: (a) the feasibility of an online program to educate nurses in Czech Republic and Poland on evidence-based smoking cessation interventions for patients and (b) self-reported changes in practices related to consistently (usually or always) providing smoking cessation interventions to smokers, before and 3 months after participation in the program. METHODS: A prospective single-group pre-post design. RESULTS: A total of 280 nurses from Czech Republic and 156 from Poland completed baseline and follow-up surveys. At 3 months, nurses were significantly more likely to provide smoking cessation interventions to patients who smoke and refer patients for cessation services (p < .01). Nurses significantly improved their views about the importance of nursing involvement in tobacco control. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Education about tobacco control can make a difference in clinical practice, but ongoing support is needed to maintain these changes. Health system changes can also facilitate the expectation that delivering evidence-based smoking cessation interventions should be routine nursing care. LINKING EVIDENCE TO ACTION: Educating nurses on cessation interventions and tobacco control is pivotal to decrease tobacco-related disparities, disease, and death. Online methods provide an accessible way to reach a large number of nurses.

1st Faculty of Medicine of Charles University Prague and General University Hospital Society for Treatment of Tobacco Dependent Prague Czech Republic

Associate Professor and director Centre for Tobacco Dependent of the 3rd Medical Department Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism 1st Faculty of Medicine of Charles University and General University Hospital Prague and Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology Prague Czech Republic

Associate Professor in Residence School of Nursing University of California San Francisco San Francisco CA USA

Deputy Head of WHO Collaborating Centre The Maria Sklodowska Curie Memorial Cancer Center and Institute of Oncology Warsaw Poland

Professor and Interim Dean Lulu Wolf Hassenplug Endowed Chair in Nursing School of Nursing University of California Los Angeles Los Angeles CA USA

Professor and Plenipotentiary of Director of the Cancer Center and Institute of Oncology in Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention; Head of WHO Collaborating Centre the Maria Sklodowska Curie Memorial Cancer Center and Institute of Oncology Warsaw Poland

Project Director School of Nursing University of California Los Angeles Los Angeles CA USA

Statistician David Geffin School of Medicine University of California Los Angeles Los Angeles CA USA

References provided by Crossref.org

Building capacity in tobacco control by establishing the Eastern Europe Nurses' Center of Excellence for Tobacco Control