Safety tip: Transition to a tobacco-free campus

Before you can successfully transition from a tobacco-free facility to a tobacco-free campus, there are a few simple steps that make for a seamless transition.

First, healthcare facilities should create a committee devoted to tobacco cessation and the adoption of a campuswide policy. Melva Okun, DrPH, the senior program manager at NC Prevention Partners in Chapel Hill, has helped transition her campus. NC Prevention Partners recently concluded a program funded by The Duke Endowment in which every hospital in North Carolina was tobacco-free campuswide by the middle of 2009.

Okun advises that the following employees should beincluded on the committee:

• At least one member of corporate leadership (CEO, chief operating officer, etc.)
• The vice president of HR
• A benefits person from the HR department
• The security or safety director
• Marketing or communications staff, to develop a plan for PR
• A staff administrator to take notes and organize meetings
• Physicians and nurses
• Pharmacy staff, who may be involved in acquiring cessation medications

For more tips, visit the Hospital Safety Center.