Internal

NC Baptist Hospital's tobacco-free campus wide committee met monthly for nine months before implementing their tobacco-free campus wide policy in July 1, 2007. They continue to meet to discuss compliance. In the picture above they celebrate their hard work.

Ongoing Implementation: post implementation date

Suggested Activities

External

Hospitals as Community Leaders:
Power Point Presentation

Check list for communicating a 100% Tobacco-Free School Policy

 

 

 

 

Ongoing Implementation: post implementation date

FirstHealth of the Carolinas designed a bib for all babies born in the hospital to take home with them.

Committees overseeing the development of the tobacco-free campus wide policy effort meet frequently over a 9-12 month period. Many feel their work is finished when they launch their new policy. However, committees should meet at least once a month for six months after implementation to address enforcement of the policy and to continuously encourage employees, patients, and visitors to quit their use of tobacco. It is recommended that in addittion to the tobacco-free committee meetings, at least one activity per month be planned to remind people of the policy and the resources that are available to help them quit.

 

 

 

Here are some suggested activities:

Hospital Newsletter – Feature employees who have quit and those who are helping to make the policy successful. Regularly remind people of the benefits of quitting and the quitting resources and medications available.

Hospital Bulletin Board – Every 6 months post a bulletin board with tobacco quitting information. For example, at Chowan Hospital, a bulletin board was mounted, that was entitled, “Proud to be a Quitter.” The bulletin board featured pictures and stories of hospital employees who had quit. This information could be presented as a bulletin board and/or in each issue of the hospital newsletter. Be sure to feature employees from different work areas of the hospital – from administration to the cafeteria. See the bulletin board "Wall of Fame" which features famous people who died of tobacco-related illnesses.

 

Add a New Sign – On occasion, post a new sign to remind people of the tobacco-free campus wide policy and available cessation resources.

 

Special Luncheons to Celebrate the Anniversary of the Tobacco-Free Campus and Those Who Have Quit – On the one-year anniversary of the policy, honor those who have quit with a special luncheon and possible gifts. Invite employees who have quit to bring their special quitting friend/co-worker. Click here to see a picture from Chowan Hospital’s One-Year Anniversary Celebration luncheon at a lovely local restaurant, including entertainment provided by a local barber shop quartet.

Sponsor Educational Events – Create a game or activity to draw attention to the harm and cost of tobacco use. For example, fill a large plastic jar with cigarette. Ask intriguing questions related to the health and financial cost of smoking. Click here to see possible questions to ask. This activity was developed at Chowan Hospital.

Reward Employees for Communicating and Helping with Compliance – Set out a box for employees who have done something within the hospital or the community to support the policy. Employees can submit their names, and what they did – e.g. spoke to my child’s Brownie Troop, spoke to the PTA, put a notice in my church bulletin, picked up cigarette butt litter on campus, spoke to a visitor about complying with the policy, etc. Each month, have a raffle with the prize of a dinner for two at a local restaurant. Once a year, have a raffle from the names of all the people who helped in the past year, with a big prize offered, such as a weekend getaway.

Hold an Ice Cream Social to Celebrate the Tobacco-Free Campus – Invite your hospital CEO and VP to help with scooping out ice cream for all employees to thank them for their cooperation and support of the new policy.

Hold a contest – Hold a songwriting or other type of contest to see who can come up with the most creative idea for having fun with the tobacco-free campus wide policy. Click here to hear the "Ocean's Eleven: Tobacco-free taskforce" song from Chowan Hospital.

Cigarette butts on your campus not only take away from the beauty of your campus but are a trigger for others to light up. Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is holding a hospital wide contest to see who can pick up the most cigarette butts. Click here for the flier and more information.