2003 Tobacco Free Nurses Initiative (TFNI)

Tobacco Free Nurses logo photo banner

The  Tobacco Free Nurses Initiative (TFNI)  funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF Grant ID: #047139) was the first national program focused on helping nurses to stop smoking.

The Tobacco Free Nurses - Leadership and Advocacy Project was a sub-project of TFNI.

Our partners on this project included the American Association of Colleges of NursingAmerican Nurses Foundation/American Nurses Association, the National Coalition of Ethnic Minority Nurse Associations and the National Federation of Licensed Practical Nurses.

Thanks and we hope you find this website useful! 


Meet the Tobacco Free Nurses Initiative Team

Tobacco Free Nurses Initiative leadership: Drs. Linda Sarna, Erika Froelicher, Mary Ellen Weewers, Stella Aguinaga Bialous

Pictured from left to right:

  • Linda Sarna, RN, PhD, School of Nursing, University of California, Los Angeles
  • Erika Froelicher, RN, PhD, School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco
  • Mary Ellen Wewers, RN, PhD, School of Public Health, The Ohio State University
  • Stella Aguinaga Bialous, RN, DrPH, Tobacco Policy International, San Francisco

Not pictured:

  • Marjorie Wells, PhD, RN, FNP, School of Nursing, University of California, Los Angeles
  • Lisa Wei Chang, MPH, School of Nursing, University of California, Los Angeles

 

Meet the tobacco Free Nurses teams, past and present


 Mission Statement

As the largest group of health care professionals, nurses have tremendous potential to effectively implement smoking cessation interventions and advance tobacco use reduction goals proposed by Healthy People 2010. The Tobacco Free Nurses’ mission is to ensure that the nursing profession is prepared to actively promote health by reducing nurses’ barriers to involvement in tobacco control, including lack of education, smoking among professionals, and lack of nursing leadership. Nurses must be equipped to assist with smoking cessation, prevent tobacco use, and promote strategies to decrease exposure to second hand smoke. The Tobacco Free Nurses initiative accomplishes its mission through:

  1. Supporting and assisting smoking cessation efforts of nurses and nursing students;
  2. Providing tobacco control resources for use in patient care;
  3. Enhancing the culture of nurses as leaders and advocates of a smokefree society.

 This is the first national initiative focused on providing support for nurses who smoke and establishing a framework for engaging nurses in tobacco use prevention and cessation.


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Press Release - August 2003 -- UCLA Nursing School Professor Launches National Campaign to Help Nurses Quit Smoking