Objective: To find out smoking habits in nurses of the Faculty Hospital, compare them with the prevalence of smoking habits among nurses in other hospitals and the prevalence of smoking among women in the population of the Czech Republic. Material and Methods: The sample consists of 1203 nurses of the Faculty Hospital of all fields except laboratory ones of the average age of 33.4 ± 10.8 years. Respondents were examined in the centre of preventive care of the establishment in 2002–2003 and they answered the questionnaire related to basic risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. The prevalence of smoking was compared to the prevalence in the sample of nurses in six hospitals in the Czech Republic (Mádlová, 1999) and the prevalence of smoking in women in the population (Cífková, 2000). Results: 32.3% nurses from the Faculty Hospital smoked compared to 41.7% nurses from other 6 hospitals (P < 0.001) and compared to 25.6% women from the general population (P < 0.001). The prevalence of smoking was the highest (37.7%) in the youngest age group of nurses of the Faculty Hospital under 24 years. Conclusion: The prevalence of smoking among nurses was significantly higher compared to the general population. The high prevalence of smoking in the youngest age group is warning. Nurses from the Faculty Hospital are not a good pattern for patients. Authors outline possible solutions in the discussion.

        Key words: smoking in women, smoking in nurses, model behaviour, key role of nurses