Smoking as a symbol of friendship: Qualitative study of smoking behavior and initiation of a group of male nurse students in Iran.

摘要

Abstract The study of smoking initiation and behavior of nurses and nurse students is important when considering their professional health promotion roles. In the present qualitative study, 26 nursing students of all grades from two nursing schools in the capital city of Iran were surveyed to explore their reasons for smoking. Through in-depth and semistructured interviews, participants were encouraged to talk about their smoking behavior and explain initiating reasons freely. Majority of the participants began smoking before commencing nursing, while only a few initiated smoking after entering into nursing school. Reasons for smoking included belonging to a group and as a symbol of friendship and mutual trust. Indeed, peer group behaviors influenced most participates to commence smoking and social influences also emerged as a theme in this study.