RNAO celebrates 10 years of partnering for a Smoke-Free Ontario

TORONTO, May 31, 2016 /CNW/ - The Smoke-Free Ontario Strategy (SFO) marks its 10th anniversary this year, and Ontario's registered nurses (RN), nurse practitioners (NP) and nursing students are proud to be part of this collaborative effort to building a healthier, smoke-free province.

As a partner in the SFO initiative, the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO) congratulates the provincial government on a decade of promoting smoking cessation, discouraging new smokers, and protecting Ontarians from the harmful effects of tobacco. These efforts have helped reduce Ontario's smoking rate to 17.4 per cent in 2014, down from 24.5 per cent in 2000.

"Ten years is a fantastic milestone for this bold, evidence-based, collaborative strategy, and the numbers show SFO and its partners are making a difference," says Doris Grinspun, RNAO's chief executive officer. "Kudos to the provincial government for making a tangible impact on the province's health, and for consistently engaging nurses as part of the solution."

SFO was a catalyst for the creation of RNAO's Tobacco and Nicotine Intervention (TNI) Initiative, which helps health-care professionals and organizations utilize evidence-based tobacco cessation strategies with their clients who use tobacco and nicotine. Thanks to this initiative, thousands of nurses and other health professionals are championing these strategies with Ontarians in their workplaces, while 45 sites across Ontario are formally implementing RNAO's Integrating Smoking Cessation into Daily Nursing Practice best practice guideline.

"Clients keenly appreciate and respond to tobacco cessation interventions provided by nurses that support and maximize their efforts to quit and reduce their tobacco use," says Sheila John, RNAO program manager for the TNI initiative. "RNAO looks forward to continuing to work in partnership with SFO to achieve even more success in tobacco and nicotine harm reduction across Ontario."

The Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO) is the professional association representing registered nurses, nurse practitioners, and nursing students in Ontario. Since 1925, RNAO has advocated for healthy public policy, promoted excellence in nursing practice, increased nurses' contribution to shaping the health-care system, and influenced decisions that affect nurses and the public they serve. For more information about RNAO, visit our website at RNAO.ca or follow us on Facebook  and Twitter.

SOURCE Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario

For more information, or to interview a nurse, please contact: Daniel Punch, Communications Officer/Writer, Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO), Phone: [phone] ext. 250, [email protected]