 The primary objective of this study is to determine whether a nurse-initiated intervention, which couples brief inpatient counseling and proactive telephone counseling by a centralized tobacco quitline, improves 6-month cessation rates in hospitalized VA smokers. If proven effective, the proposed intervention will provide a practical strategy to enhance the adoption and implementation of recommended smoking cessation procedures in VA hospitals, and will demonstrate the utility of quitlines in preventing relapse in hospitalized smokers once they leave the hospital. 