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Background As future health educators, nursing and physiotherapy students will play an essential role in the prevention of smoking. Aim To determine the prevalence of smoking among students and to analyse their knowledge of and attitudes towards smoking. Method This was a descriptive cross-sectional study using an anonymous questionnaire and conducted in a Spanish Faculty of Health Sciences in 2013. Findings 247 nursing and physiotherapy students (82.33%) participated in the study. The global prevalence of smoking (18.2%) was lower compare with the general population group of the same age. We have observed statistical significance in relation to previous studies. Nursing and physiotherapy students showed a low nicotine dependence. We found a lack of knowledge about the harmful effects of cigarette consumption on health. Statistically significant results were also found in relation to degree courses (p < 0.01) as regards students' opinions about their knowledge of strategies and methods to help patients stop smoking. Conclusion Most students started smoking before commencing their university studies; consequently, interventions should focus on cessation programmes. An analysis of university curricula leading to the award of a degree in the health sciences could serve to identify educational deficiencies in order to implement the necessary modifications. Implications for nursing and health policy This paper presents an update in tobacco use characteristics amongst nursing and physiotherapy students. Those results have showed a need to improve the curricula in order to develop specific programmes to improve knowledge, attitudes and beliefs. Measures to prevent smoking must be taken at school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MANZANO GARCÍA G. & AYALA CALVO J. C. (2011) Emotional exhaustion of nursing staff: influence of emotional annoyance and resilience. International Nursing Review 59, 101-107 Aim: This paper aimed to study the influence of emotional annoyance and resilience on the emotional exhaustion levels of nursing staff. Background: Emotional exhaustion is one of the key factors in understanding both the performance and the quality of care that nurses give to their patients. There is a considerable body of knowledge that has focused on the study of emotional exhaustion in relation to cynicism and professional efficiency. More recently emotional annoyance and resilience have been identified as variables that could help explain levels of emotional exhaustion. Methods: Nine hundred eighty-three nurses who work in five hospitals in the north of Spain were invited to participate in the study. Five hundred questionnaires were distributed, of which 200 were fully completed. The average response rate was 40%. A personal information form, and a questionnaire concerning nurses' emotional annoyance, resilience, professional efficiency and cynicism were used as data collection instruments. To estimate a path model with latent variables, partial least squares was used. Findings: Emotional annoyance and resilience contribute to a better understanding of emotional exhaustion levels of nursing staff. There was a significant association between emotional annoyance and emotional exhaustion (β = 0.26, P = 0.020), while resilience appeared to be protective against emotional exhaustion (β = −0.22, P = 0.004). Conclusion: A more complete explanation and understanding of emotional exhaustion in nursing is achieved when emotional annoyance and resilience is measured in addition elements of burnout, which include professional efficiency and cynicism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]