ATTITUDE OF WEST NEGROS UNIVERSITY LEVEL 3 STUDENT NURSES TOWARDS SMOKING

A Research Paper Presented To Faculty And Staff of College of Nursing West Negro
s University Bacolod City
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements In Bachelor of Science In Nursing
by: Gangoy, Lalaine Gellada, Pamela Pearl Genovea, Dona Suegay, Charmy Tomugdan,
Michelle Marie
2 Group 6 N3 - 5 Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study Smoking is a habit but curable. Considered as curable bu
t few people try to control themselves from doing it. People, students and even
professionals are often tempted to smoke. For some, smoking relieves tension; su
periority among others, curiosity, satisfaction, and a form of self deception bu
t the adverse consequences of smoking is one’s own health. Smoking exist everywh
ere even in school campuses that conclude to be huge problem. According to Toni
Christopherson, a problem that everyone tries to eradicate but fails to act on i
t because they themselves cannot practice what they preach1. It is obvious that
smoking is one of the major problems of every college student. Many college stud
ents are fond of smoking, it driven one self to heavenly feeling. But it is not
an excuse to be free from any complication someday. Many people tried self disci
pline to control the temptation of smoking. Others would try re- lifestyle and r
efocus their attention just to stop themselves from doing it. But worse, others
don’t know what to do and they simply give in. Others on the other hand, would s
moke not because they don’t know what to do but simply because they won’t get be
long to the “in group’.
1
Toni Christopherson, Working Nurse, (Working World, June 11- July 2, 2004), pp.
22.
3
As mentioned earlier, smoking is curable; one always has the power to control on
e’s self. Because of smoking, few qualified people get to be successful. It s be
cause of smoking is one of the reason that word s mortality rate. Smoking could
never be eradicated unless we try to start the battle against it and heart attac
k in those with heart disease. Studies have indicated that some student does smo
king during their vacant time than studying their lessons. Smoking in college es
pecially in nursing students is becoming popular substitute for learning. There
are some factors of smoking which has the social approval from parents, faculty
and friends. Some studies shows that student with low self – esteem is actually
more likely to smoke than student with high self – esteem because of the negativ
e evaluation that they might receive from the people around them.2 3
Objectives of the Study
2 3
Keller, Kimberly, Great Emphasis, 1976, pp.32 Polacheck, Whitney, Guiding Rules
for a Better, 1996, pp. 45
4 The main purpose of this is to know the attitude of West Negros University stu
dent nurses towards smoking. Specifically, this study answers the following ques
tions: 1. What are the attitudes of WNU student s nurses toward smoking? a. favo
rable b. unfavorable 2. What are the attitudes of male and female student nurses
toward smoking? 3. What are the attitudes of regular and second courser student
s toward smoking? 4. What is the influence of smoking on the academic and clinic
al performance of the student in WNU College of nursing? 5. What will WNU do for
student nurse to stop smoking? a. Prohibit smoking inside the campus, or within
the parameter of 200m away from school. b. Fine of 100 pesos when caught of smo
king. c. Make an incident report when caught of smoking while on school or clini
cal area.
Assumptions
5 The basic assumptions considered in this investigation are as follows: 1. Male
and Female student nurses possess different attitude toward smoking. 2. Everyon
e is entitled to choose his or her own recreational activities. 3. Each school h
as certain ways to prevent unnecessary misdoing inside the school campus. Theore
tical Framework Smoking has been practiced in one form or another since ancient
times. Perception surrounding smoking has varied over time and from one place to
another; holy and sinful, sophisticated and vulgar, a panacea and deadly health
hazard. Only recently, and primarily in industrialized Western countries, has s
moking come to be viewed in a decidedly negative light. Today medical studies ha
ve proven that smoking is among the leading causes of diseases such as stenosis,
lung cancer, heart attacks and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and can a
lso lead to birth defects. The wellproven health hazards of smoking have caused
many countries to institute high taxes on tobacco products and anti-smoking camp
aigns are launched every year in an attempt to curb smoking. The reasons given b
y smokers for this activity are broadly categorized as "addictive smoking", "ple
asure from smoking", "tension reduction/relaxation", "social smoking", "stimulat
ion", "habit/automatism", and "handling". There are gender differences in how mu
ch each of these reasons contribute, with females more likely than males to cite
"tension reduction/relaxation", "stimulation" and "social smoking"
6 A clear majority of alcoholics smoke. According to Evelyn Lutz4, between 80 an
d 95 percent of alcoholics smoke cigarettes, which is more than three times high
er than among the population as a whole. Research has also shown that smokers wi
th a history of alcoholism are more nicotine dependent than smokers with no such
history, and suggests smoking cessation may prompt a relapse to drinking among
a small number of smokers with a history of alcoholism. "This study refutes the
common perception that smokers with a history of alcoholism have more difficulty
quitting smoking and are likely to relapse back to alcoholism," said John R. Hu
ghes5, professor of psychiatry at the University of Vermont and lead author of t
he study. "Our results suggest smokers with this history need to be encouraged t
o attempt to stop smoking." Hughes also said that for "for 85 percent of smokers
with past alcoholism, quitting smoking is not a problem. Furthermore, as our fi
ndings indicate, we found smokers with past but not current alcoholism were able
to quit as well and benefited from nicotine-patch treatment to the same degree
as smokers without this history.
4 5
Evelyn Lutz, Philippine Journal of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, January-June 20
06,pp.23 John R. Hughes, Smoke Alarm, Volume 76, March-December 1998
7 Social approval whether it is from parents, faculty or friends, is a factor th
at attributes to smoking. Crowne and Marlou6 found college student with a high n
eed for approval of smoking more often because they as concerned about negative
evaluation. Attitudes and Values as Motivational Perceptual State Attitudes and
values can be thought and will be dealt with here as motivational perceptual sta
tes7. An individuals attitude set a respond through the perceptual quality of se
lecting, categorizing, and interpreting experience in the line of expectation; i
ndividuals values are associated with the central tendency of cluster of his at
titude in a long – range motivational sense. Attitudes are learned in terms of r
estricting of the psychological fields. This process is a dynamic one in so far
as attitudes and values are subject to change though the acquisition of new info
rmation. However, attitudes appear to be more susceptible to apparent change whi
le the basic values underlying them persist. Attitudes are important in social p
sychology because they sum up the past experience of the individual in terms of
directive motivational perceptual states, growing out of learning. This process
therefore has consequences not only in terms of observable behaviors but also wi
th respect to potentials fro the individual s action.
6 7
Erik Crowne and Marlou, Your Health Guide, February-August 2005, pp. 85 Franklin
Allport, Choose life, not smoking, pp. 106
8 The Structures and Functions of Attitudes In the early studies of attitudes, i
t was quite common to rely largely on the description on individual s attitudes,
their direction in terms of valence, and the belief system that they constitute
d. More recently, attitudes have been viewed with considerably greater stress on
what can be called their structural relationships and functional features. The
first of these newer emphases has been called "cognitive interaction which con
veys the idea of a relationship between attitudes within the psychological field
. It also encompasses the process by which new experiences become absorbed as ad
ded information. Within this approach a great deal of contemporary research has
been directed toward attitudinal consistency and congruity, about which we shall
say more shortly. The second emphasis, on functional features, concerns especia
lly the motivation serve. Components and Aspects of Attitudes There are great wa
ys to approach the organization of attitudes, but for convenience, we can consid
er them with reference the three major components and three aspects of study. Re
garding the components, Katz8 observes that attitudes have been treated with res
pect to a cognitive component, which refers to belief – disbelief, affective com
ponents, which deal with like – dislike, and an action components, which embodie
s a readiness to respond.
8
Emily Katz, Aspects of Behavior, pp:123-124 h
9 The relationship of these components continues to be a lively interest in cont
emporary social psychology. Thus believing or not believing something, and likin
g one or the other alternatives, is by no means simple distinctions to make. As
Rokeach9 has pointed out, a firmly entrenched belief, especially when challenge,
is usually found to have considerable positive effect. There maybe a little app
arent liking – in the sense of positive valence associated with one s belief tha
t the earth is round, yet a contradiction of it would generate strong feeling. T
his point bears on consistency which will be considered below. The three major a
spects in the study of attitudes are: the relationships of their components, esp
ecially in terms of cognitive interaction and individual adjustment; their sourc
e, that is, the patterns by which attitudes are acquired through learning; and a
ttitude change, with reference to the influences on the individual which result
in the incorporation of new experience and the modification of attitudes10. View
broadly; there are several qualities of attitudes which may we may now generali
ze as follows: they are beliefs and feelings about an object or set of objects i
n the social environment; they are learned; they to persist, though subject to t
he effects of experience; and they are directives states in the psychological fi
eld which affects action.
9
10
Rokeach, Beliefs & Attitude,pp89 Elliot Karen, Significant Gains, 1996, pp. 63
10 Scope This study covers all the level 3 nursing student of West Negros Univer
sity – Bacolod. The sample size was predetermined because of the inadequate list
of student involves in smoking. To enable to identify male and female responden
ts in their affection in smoking and school objectives to handle the necessary p
recautions toward smoking. Limitations In view of financial and time constraints
on the part of the researchers, only level 3 student nurses were selected: Leve
l 3 because it is easy and accessible on the part of the researchers as they are
also in the same year level. Aside from that, level 3 is the time were the stud
ent nurses are expose to the clinical area for their internship.
11 Definition of Terms Academic Performance –conceptually academic performance r
efers to the over all evaluation of the academic performance reflected in studen
t s grades. Operationally, these terms refer to the over all grades of students
in all his subjects. Age – refers to the length of time of level 3 students whic
h measured by years from birth that considerably existed. Attitude – refers to m
ental disposition, feelings or emotion toward a state or fact. In this study, th
is term means the student s feeling and disposition toward smoking. Clinical Per
formance – the term refers to the evaluation of the performance in the clinical
setting, hospital or community. Sex- conceptually this term refers to the sum of
structural and functional differences of every individual. Operationally this t
erm refers to male and female engage in smoking. Smoking - is a practice where a
substance, most commonly tobacco, is burned and the smoke tasted or inhaled. Th
is is primarily done as a form of recreational drug use, as combustion releases
the active substances in drugs such as nicotine and makes them available for abs
orption through the lungs. In this study, this term refer to the inhalation of b
urned tobacco stick of the students.
12 Significance of the Study This study will be great significance to the follow
ing: Clinical Instructors in WNU. As clinical instructors guide and are the one
who are always there for the students, they have a great responsibility in motiv
ating the students. This study will provide and support the students in giving g
ood quality education and health teaching which could necessarily extend benefit
s in the school and for the students. In terms of school performances, level 3 s
tudent nurses could practice self discipline through the help of Clinical Instru
ctors who handle them. They should give advices and health teachings for the stu
dents to be more aware of the effects of smoking towards their health, academic
and clinical performance. Dean of the College of Nursing. In order for the dean
to assess the immediate needs of the student services and supervises the level 3
student nurses through their academic performance and health status. Furthermor
e, to determine whether this study towards smoking has a great impact in the stu
dent nurse s academic and clinical performance. Also for the dean of the college
to be alarmed and to implement actions that could alleviate the students attitu
de towards smoking. This is not only for the college but also for the school to
uplift its name and produce quality nurses in the near future. For Academic Perf
ormance Administrators. For them to give a future program that will draw out a p
lan for the school. They could provide objectives and support the program which
could serve as baseline for decision – making.
13 For the class advisers, who could give student nurses care and guidance and w
hich could possibly help students in managing their life. They could provide obj
ectives and identify all their perspective needs from the different policy of th
e school. For Level 3 student nurse’s, so their goals could be identified, and f
or the benefits of their future plans, health and career. This could be chance o
f opportunity for them to gain self discipline and be a role model to their resp
onding clients in the clinical area, school and community. They will realized th
at what they are doing will affect their studies. For the researcher, to encoura
ge changes in the health habit of their fellow students and be knowledgeable on
the effects of smoking, health discipline and an anchor individuals to maintain
and strengthen the health condition of the students nurses in terms of promotive
, preventive and curative aspects of the course.
14 Chapter II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter covers more on the study, which is basically related to the researc
h study of the attitude of West Negros University College of Nursing level 3 stu
dent nurses towards smoking. This chapter contains the related reading, ideas, c
oncept and research studies of different authors and sources in relation to the
effect of smoking to one s attitude. Conceptual Literature Smoking is the practi
ce of inhaling tobacco from a pipe or cigarette. The custom of smoking tobacco i
s thought to have started in the Americas. In the late 1400 s, English and Spani
sh explorers returning from the New World brought back to Europe the custom of p
ipe smoking, which they had learned from Indians. Cigarette smoking may have sta
rted among the Aztecs of Mexico, who smoked shredded tobacco rolled inside corn
husks. Until the 1900 s tobacco was used mainly in cigars, chewing tobacco and s
nuff. Later cigarette smoking became popular and increased sharply after World W
ar 1 (1918) and again after World War II (1945)11. In 1964 the United States Pub
lic Health Service released a landmark document, smoking in health: Report of th
e Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General, which concluded that smoking is a m
ajor cause of cancer of the lung, mouth and throat. Since, then researchers have
shown that each year cigarette smoking cause more than 300,000 premature deaths
in the United States alone, principally from the heart disease, cancer
11
The New Book of Knowledge, 1992, pp. 243
15 and chronic (long – lasting) obstructive lung disease, such as emphysema. In
1965, congress adopted legislation requiring that all cigarette packages carry a
warning about the health hazard of smoking. Cigarette advertisements on radio a
nd television have been banned since 1970. One of the more recent concerns about
smoking is the effects of tobacco smoke has on nonsmokers (" passive or involun
tary smoking). The 1986 Surgeon General s Report, the health consequences of i
nvoluntary smoking, came to three major conclusion: (1) Involuntary smoking is a
cause of disease, including lung cancer, in healthy nonsmokers; (2) the childre
n of parents who smoke have more respiratory infection, such as pneumonia and br
onchitis, than the children on non- smokers. (3) The separation of smokers and n
on- smokers may reduce, but does not eliminate, the exposure of nonsmokers to en
vironmental tobacco smoke12. These findings support recent trend towel restricti
ng or banning smoking in public places and in the workplace. In fact, the surgeo
n general and Public Health Service have called fro smoke – free society in succ
eeding years. Campaigns aimed at educating the Public about the health hazards o
f smoking have been very successful. Studies shows that 90% of the U.S. adult po
pulation now recognizes that cigarette smoking cause lung cancer, heart disease
and emphysema. Teenagers have begun turning away from cigarettes. The percentage
of high school seniors who smoke every day has fallen from 29 % in 1977 to abou
t 20% in 1987. It is critical that people recognize that dangers of smoking befo
re they consider taking up
12
Time Magazine, Volume 44, 1995, pp.5
16 the habit. Smoking causes smokers cough, a lower capacity for exercise, addic
tion to nicotine, and in the long run, severe disability and death13. Local Lite
rature In the Philippines, the number of women who smoke is constantly on the ri
se. It is a phenomenon that, in recent years, seems to affect the youngest most
of all: 30% of girls between the ages of 13 and 18 smoke regularly. According to
a recent study conducted by the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance, 18.7%
of Filipino young women between the ages of 13 and 25 smoke cigarettes. The numb
ers go up if the sample is restricted to teenagers between 13 and 15: 3 out of 1
0 already have the smoking habit. Among female smokers, 60% say that they smoked
their first cigarette at the age of 18, while the remaining 40% say they starte
d when they were still very young. They continue to smoke despite the fact that
they are aware of the risks connected to smoking: nine girls out of ten know tha
t smoking can cause lung cancer, infertility, early menopause, osteoporosis, and
hysterectomy. For this reason, the country has begun an anti-smoking campaign s
upported by the local Catholic Church: the first initiatives include that of put
ting warning labels on packaging14.
13 14
The New Book Of Knowledge, 1992, pp. 587 AsiaNews.It.com, February 05, 2007
17 Research Literature Alarm more teens are lighting up and making smoking a hab
it. But do they really know the harm they re doing to their young bodies? Some t
eens are asked why they smoke. They mostly answered to relieve tension; to be in
"in" the group, fashion and make them feel strong and heavenly feeling. There a
re only some teenagers being asked for the reasons of why they smoke. True that
we all die but don’t we know the adverse consequences smoking has on one s healt
h. More than just addictive nicotine, these are the poisons that go into our lun
gs each time we inhale cigarette smoke. ARSENIC: used in rat poison; ACETIC ACID
: hair dye and developer; ACETONE: main ingredients in paint and fingernail poli
sh remover; AMMONIA: a typical household cleaner; BENZENE: rubber cement; CADIUM
: found in batteries and artist oil plant that carries carbon monoxide; FORMALDE
HYDE: used to embalm dead bodies; HYDRAZINE: used in jet and rocket fuels; HYDRO
GEN CYANIDE: poison in gas chambers; NAPTHALINES: used in explosive moth balls a
nd pain pigments; NICKEL: used in the process of electroplating; PHENOL; used in
disinfectants and plastics; POLONIUM: radiation dosage equal to 300 chest X-ray
in one year; STYRENE: found in isolation material; TOLUENE: embalmers glue; VIN
YL CHLORIDE: ingredients found in garbage bags15. The gross truth, the damage of
smoking does to our insides eventually shows in our physical appearance. It s n
ot about beig vain, but puffing can really strip our pretty
15
The Script, 2002, pp.41
18 points. Its stained teeth that either yellowish or brownish, bad breath, a ye
llow stain in the fingertips, black lips, facial wrinkles and an over all odor o
f stale smoke that everyone, except a smoker that can detect.
19 Chapter III METHODOLOGY
This chapter discusses the method of research use, the subject and respondent of
the study, the sampling procedures, the research instrument, the data gathering
procedure and the data processing technique use. Since the main purpose of this
study was to determine the effect of smoking in the health condition and the ac
ademic and clinical performances of the student nurses.
Research Design In this study, the descriptive research design is use because we
want to know if smoking has great effect on the clinical and academic performan
ce of nursing students. What is really their reason of smoking? Descriptive rese
arch is the most widely research design, indicated by the numerous thesis disser
tations and non-academic researches, the primary aim of which is to describe exi
sting belief, opinion or condition of social group; compare sub groups in terms
of selected variables; determine the relationship between among variables covere
d16.
Respondents of the study The respondents of the study will be the level 3 male a
nd female student nurses of West Negros University. These students respondent w
ill be identified in terms of their academic performance, and clinical performan
ce. With the use of purposive
16
Ardales, Venancio, 3rd Edition, 2008.
20 sampling procedure, there were 300 level student nurses who were taken as res
pondent. To determine the sample size, Solvin s formula was used. n = __N__ 1 +
Ne² Where: n = sample size N = population size e = desired margin of error set a
t 0.5 level of confidence Thus: n = _200_ 1+ 500(.05)²
Data gathering Procedure The researcher requested the approval of the dean of Co
llege of Nursing to gather the pertinent data necessary to answer the objectives
of the investigation. Approval from the College Registrar for the procurement o
f grades was also sought upon approval; the researcher personally copied the ave
rages of the academic grades as well as the clinical grades of the level 3 stude
nt nurses. Other information which was needed to establish the profile of the re
spondents was also gathered from the same office.
Research Instrument This study will make use of a survey questionnaire compose p
arts to gather the needed data. It will be supplemented by the academic and clin
ical record of the level 3 student nurses in second semester S.Y. 2008 – 2009. I
t will be further supplied with
21 interview to level 3 student nurses to collaborate and substantiate the infor
mation gathered from the questionnaire.
Data Analysis Procedure The following statistical tools were utilized to analyze
the gathered data to answer the first objective which sought whether level 3 st
udent nurses of WNU are favorable or not, towards smoking. Objective 2 and 3 det
ermine the attitudes between the male and female and the regular and second cour
ser level 3 student nurses towards smoking. The formula to be used: Descriptive
Statistics % = F/N × 100 % = percent F = frequency N = total # of the respondent
Objectives 4 sought to determine the level of academic and clinical performance
of the level 3 nursing student when group according to attitude of student, reg
ular or second courser, smoking habit, the mean was used. According to Basilio,
the mean is the most dependable measure of central tendency.
The formula is as follows: X = __efx__ N
22 where: x = the mean efx = sum of the weighted scores N = total # of the respo
ndents
23 QUESTIONNAIRE PART I. Bio – Profile Direction: Please indicate your response
by checking the appropriate box or by filling the blank. 1. Name (optional)_____
______________ 2. Sex: ( ) Male ( ) Female 3. Age: _____________ 4. Estimated al
lowance for a week ______________ 5. Regular: ( ) Second Courser: ( ) Passive Sm
oker: ( )
6. Active Smoker: ( ) PART II.
Direction: Please check the parenthesis which corresponds to your answer. 1. I u
sually smoke when I m bored. 2. I usually smoke when I see my classmates do the
same. 3. I consume more than 5 sticks of cigarette per day. 4. I smoke when I en
counter problems. ( ) Yes ( ) No ( ) Yes ( ) No ( )Yes ( )No
( ) Yes ( ) No
5. Smoking affect my study habits, my performance in the academic and clinical a
rea. I believe smoking makes me release my tension. 6. I believe smoking is risk
full in my health in the future. 7. I believe smoking is already a part of my l
ifestyle. ( ) Yes ( ) No ( ) Yes ( ) No ( ) Yes ( ) No ( ) Yes ( ) No
8. West Negros University should implement rules and regulations to eliminate sm
oking. ( ) Yes ( ) No
24 BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS Ardales, Venancio B. 2008 Basic Concepts and Methods in Research. 3rd edit
ion. Ermita, Manila: Educational Publishing Company Christopherson, Toni G. 2004
Working Nurse, Working world. New York: Wadsworth Publishing Company. Hughes, J
ohn R. 1996 Smoke Alarm. San Diego State University Keller, Kimberly F. 1996 Gre
at Emphasis. California: Polacheck, Whitney. 1996 Guiding Rule for a better.” Ne
w Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc. The New Book of Knowledge 1992 History of Smoking P
ERIODICALS Philippine Journal of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. (January / June 2
006) The Script. (2002) Time Magazine, Volume 44, (1995). INTERNET www. AsiaNews
.It.com
25
TABLE OF CONTENT PAGE APPROVAL SHEET ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ABSTRACT LIST OF TABLES LIS
T OF FIGURES ii iii iv
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Background of the study Statement of the Problem Hypothes
is Theoretical Framework Conceptual Framework Significance of the Study Scope an
d Delimitations of the study Definition of Terms