For Immediate Release
May 27, 2014

Associate Professor of Nursing Constance M. Green and Students Lauded For Smoking Cessation Program

Constance Green

Suffolk County Community College Associate Professor of Nursing, Constance M. Green, MS, MS , NPP was selected as an American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA) Champion for Smoking Cessation and was selected to participate in the APNA’s  Virtual Nursing Academy.
 
Green’s project, “Let’s Quit Together” has been identified as one of 14 projects with promising strategies to potentially reduce and/or eliminate tobacco use among those living with psychiatric and addictive disorders.

Green, of Setauket, said she and her students brainstormed and came up with a proposal and consulted with Hands Across Long Island (HALI) Executive Director Ellen Healion and staff, after which a multi-faceted program called, “Let’s Quit Together!”  was developed for the organization.

The program included:

Total Agency Cigarette Count:  Green and her student team prominently posted the total number of cigarettes smoked at HALI to create a feeling that they were working as a team.

Smoking Cessation Support Table: Included a support person to educate, support, and provide immediate alternatives to smoking.

“Ask me How I Quit” Stickers:  Several people have successfully quit smoking at HALI who were given stickers that said, “Ask Me How I Quit!”  This encouraged members to talk about quitting and to hear success stories.

Green said the idea was to create a team environment, inspire people to quit smoking, encourage discussion about tobacco cessation, and make it easier for HALI to consider going “smoke free.”

Green said the results of the project speaks volumes:

--Several HALI members approached Green and her students and asked for help creating a similar program to encourage walking.

--This project offered the students an opportunity to promote health in our community.
--Nursing students said they were thrilled to do “real work that might have lasting effects”
--Creating community partnerships benefits everyone.

"Credit," Green said, "goes to the students for doing all the hard work. I was just there to guide them and offer support."

The APNA  is a professional organization committed to the specialty practice of psychiatric-mental health nursing and wellness promotion, prevention of mental health problems, and the care and treatment of persons with psychiatric disorders.