Tobacco in Hospitals

Abstract

To the Editor.— Following the article by Ho, 1 we conducted a telephone survey of hospital administrators in the state of Georgia regarding their individual hospital policies for tobacco use and sales. Of the 185 Georgia hospitals, 141 were successfully contacted, and 135 of the administrators agreed to respond (73% of all Georgia hospitals). Sixty-nine percent of the responding hospitals were accredited by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Hospitals (JCAH). Ninety percent of the responding hospitals had established written cigarette and tobacco use policies. Seventy-six percent of hospital administrators were aware of the American Medical Association's recommendations and the JCAH regulations concerning tobacco use. 2,3 However, 16% of the administrators at JCAH-accredited institutions had no knowledge of the JCAH smoking regulations and 7% had not established written policies. Ninety-seven percent of those hospitals with written policies stated that their policies were enforced. Nursing staffs were primarily responsible for