Becoming a Registered Nurse

The Future Face of Nursing Profiles

Nurse works with teens to battle tobacco addiction

“Nursing skills lend themselves well to community leadership. It’s my hope that more nurses become politicians, to ensure that more policies which protect people’s health will become legislated.”

– Jane Brownrigg, RN, Ottawa Public Health

CNA salutes public health nurse Jane Brownrigg, acting supervisor of the Tobacco Control Program at Ottawa Public Health, for her war against tobacco addiction.

“The memory of Heather Crowe gives my work clarity,” says Brownrigg, referring to the Canadian waitress who did not smoke but ultimately died of lung cancer from her exposure to second-hand smoke. Her story and others in Brownrigg’s home community of the Ottawa Valley have inspired Brownrigg to use her skills and knowledge in health promotion to advocate for smoke-free public spaces for all. “For me, the reward is always the personal stories…how someone quit smoking in a program we provided, that a server enjoys better health now that their restaurant is smoke-free, that a youth you are working with speaks out about the tobacco industry’s manipulation,” says Brownrigg.

As she became more involved in tobacco control, Brownrigg says, “I realized that big tobacco had been successfully marketing their product to the children of our communities. Most children don’t realize how powerful the addiction is and become lifelong smokers. We have often said that what starts out as a bid for independence quickly becomes a dependence for life.”

Brownrigg’s key responsibility is to implement the Smoke-Free Ontario Strategy for the Ottawa community. One of her first victories came in 2001, when the municipal politicians in Ottawa agreed. With some urging from Brownrigg and others from Ottawa Public Health’s tobacco control team, a bylaw was passed eliminating smoking in bars, restaurants and other public places. Since then, Brownrigg and the team at Ottawa Public Health have created a successful program for high school students, called Exposé, which empowers youth leaders to dissuade other youth from starting or continuing to smoke.

“The Exposé program is an adult-guided and youth-led initiative,” reports Brownrigg. “Its main thrust is to engage and mobilize youth in tobacco issues.” Nursing staff work closely with the youth, providing advice and support.

According to Health Canada, tobacco tops the list of risk factors for preventable death and disease in this country. About 45,000 of Canada’s nearly 5-million smokers die of tobacco-related illnesses each year. Moreover, the majority of smokers take up the habit before they are 18 years old. Faced with these dire statistics, the tobacco control team realizes the importance of working with high school students to stop the addiction before it starts.

“Having nurses on this team is vital because of their expertise in community mobilization and commitment to the population’s health,” says Debbie McCulloch, tobacco prevention supervisor at Ottawa Public Health.

Jessica Schafer, an Exposé youth facilitator, agrees. “Jane’s expertise is crucial,” says Schafer. “She not only leads us, but also informs us on the health background of tobacco. Whenever we have questions, she has all the facts. She enables us to do the work we do.”

Today there are Exposé programs in most of Ottawa’s high schools. The program has sponsored smoking cessation groups, a public health youth team and an award-winning media campaign. The results of these efforts can be seen in the significant drop in youth smoking rates in the city. Since Exposé began, the smoking rate among youth in Ottawa has decreased from 21 per cent in 2003 to 16 per cent in 2005.

According to CNA, prevention is the most important strategy in fighting tobacco addiction. But for those who already smoke, counselling is the best course of action. Health professionals can work with individuals to provide them with the most appropriate advice for their situation. CNA believes that the work of nurses like Jane Brownrigg is vital to achieving this goal.

Brownrigg feels that nurses have an important role to play in changing current legislation to create healthier environments. “Nursing skills lend themselves well to community leadership. It’s my hope that more nurses become politicians, to ensure that more policies which protect people’s health will become legislated.”