Abstract
Māori nurses can play an important role in supporting other Māori and whānau who smoke with their smoking cessation.  At present, little is understood about Māori nurses who smoke and how this impacts on their role in delivering smoking cessation advice.  We undertook in-depth qualitative interviews with 43 participants to explore Māori nurses; perceptions and experiences of smoking and quitting, and how smoking impacts their role as a nurse.  Participants included 22 student nurses, 16 registered nurses, and 5 community health workers (CHWs).  Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data.  This procedure elicited five key themes: social context of smoking for Māori nurses; managing conflicted identities; the impact of smoking on practice; nursing students' experience of smoking; and quitting experiences.  Māori nurses, including student nurses, reported conflicted identities as smokers and nurses, and used a number of strategies to manage the high level of dissonance they experienced.  Māori student nurses appear to be the most likely to be amenable to quit interventions.  We recommend targeted approaches that are culturally relevant for prompting  nurses to quit smoking.

Keywords
Māori nurses; indigenous; smoking; smoking cessation; professional dissonance