A before-after implementation trial of smoking cessation guidelines in hospitalized veterans

Table 1 Description of VA study hospitals

	Hospital A	Hospital B	Hospital C	Hospital D
Patient characteristics
Age, mean	62.9	65.1	62.7	60.4
Gender, % male	97	96	95	94
Race, % white	97	80	85	86
Income ($), mean	21,349	26,287	20,500	19,414
General medical wards
Annual number of admissions, n	2,988	4,388	2,701	2,806
Total number of nursing staff	42	72	60	52
% Registered nurses (RN)*	67	68	73	58
Average daily census (across wards), n	29	62	33	42
Average nursing hours per patient day	6.2	7.13	8.31	7.34
Smoking cessation services**
Responsible division	Mental health	Mental health	Mental health	Primary care
No. of consults per month	50	60	65	30
How often do new patients start program?	1/month	1/week	NS	1/week
No. of individual counseling sessions per typical course of therapy	3	NS	2	4
Program includes group counseling	Y	Y	N	Y
Can patients receive pharmacotherapy without enrollment in smoking cessation program?	Y	Y	N	Y
Any use of telemedicine to provide cessation therapy?	Y	N	Y	N

*Source: VHA Support Service Center. http://vssc.med.va.gov (accessed 6/13/07). Nurse staffing was estimated from local data.
**Source: Office of the Assistant Deputy Undersecretary for Health for Policy and Planning. Veterans Health Administration. Smoking and Tobacco Use Cessation Report 2005. http://vaww.va.gov/haig/smoking/STUC_2005.pdf (last accessed 1 December 2006).

ISSN: 1748-5908