IntroductionThe Better Help for Smokers to Quit government health target introduced in 2009 (Ministry of Health, 2009) thrust nurses into the frontline to encourage more people to make more quit attempts more often. Using the target's ABC approach, nurses were expected to Ask all clients if they smoked, give Brief advice about quitting if clients were a current smoker and offer to refer to or directly provide Cessation treatment (pharmacological and behavioural). Poor knowledge about smoking and attitudes towards people who smoked has been found to impede nurses' capacity to provide smoking cessation support to their clients (Wong et al., 2007) and nurses' own smoking was a significant barrier (Gifford, Wilson, Boulton, Walker, & Shepherd-Sinclair, 2013; Slater, McElwee, Fleming, & McKenna, 2006). The internal conflict faced by nurses who are themselves addicted to tobacco smoking is compounded for Maori nurses who are seen not only as role models for their profession but importantly for their Maori communities (Gifford, Wilson et al., 2013).Reducing smoking among nurses, particularly Maori nurses is a priority for nursing organisations (New Zealand Nurses Organisation [NZNO], 2010; Smokefree Nurses, 2010). In a survey of Maori NZNO members, 21.5% disclosed that they smoked (Gifford, Walker, Clendon, Wilson, & Boulton, 2013). A quarter of the 386 survey participants (12% of NZNO Maori members) were student nurses and smoking was disproportionately higher among them at 36%. Of the nurses who smoked, 68% agreed that being a nurse and a smoker was a conflict, 84% agreed that they would feel guilty if seen smoking while in uniform and only 34% believed that nurses who smoked could give effective advice to others about stopping smokingDisparate rates of smoking between Maori nurses and their non-Maori colleagues reflect the overall inequalities in smoking prevalence between Maori (38%) and the general population (16.6%) (Ministry of Health, 2015). In response, there have been numerous calls for culturally salient by Maori for Maori cessation interventions (Glover & Cowie, 2010; Glover, Kira, & Smith, 2016; Grigg, Waa, & Bradbrook, 2008; Maori Select Committee, 2010; Smokefree Nurses, 2010).Maori nurses who smoke are highly motivated to quit, but they were dismissive of many of the current tobacco control strategies supposed to help them (Gifford, Walker et al., 2013). For example, they were angered by strategies they believed 'persecuted' and stigmatised people who smoked, and strategies that removed personal choice (Gifford, Walker et al., 2013). Sixty-one percent thought tobacco excise tax increases were punishing and small numbers thought that removing cigarettes from sight at the point of sale or implementing plain packaging wouldn't have any effect on their continued smoking or motivation to quit (Gifford, Wilson et al., 2013). Maori nurses concurred with previous recommendations and suggested programmes combining incentives with collective support could be effective in achieving cessation (Gifford, Wilson et al., 2013).Incentives are emerging as an effective method to motivate quitting and support greater abstinence (Cahill & Perera, 2011; Giles, Robalino, McColl, Sniehotta, & Adams, 2014; Marteau, Thorne, Aveyard, Hirst, & Sokat, 2013). Two New Zealand trials suggest incentives may increase cessation intervention efficacy for Maori (Glover et al., 2014; Glover, Kira, Walker, & Bauld, 2015). We proposed to test a scholarship programme incentivising Maori nursing students who smoked to recruit a quit mate (a whanau/family member or friend) and quit smoking. Requiring involvement of a quit mate addresses the criticism that current cessation approaches do not acknowledge the centrality of the family for Maori and are too focused on the individual (Fernandez & Wilson, 2008; Gifford, Walker et al., 2013). Requiring student participants to recruit and support a whanau member to also quit could boost motivation to participate and to succeed at quitting. …