An exploratory study of how nurses understand and experience caring for alcohol dependent patients in an acute medical ward.

Abstract

Alcohol dependency is a growing problem in Scotland. It is a complex condition associated with a number of detrimental health outcomes, consequently causing an increase in the number of patients in hospital who are alcohol dependent. Despite this, assessment and management of alcohol problems in hospital is frequently poor. There is limited research exploring nurse's experiences of caring for this patient population within the acute ward setting, particularly across Scotland and the rest of the UK. This research project proposes to explore how nurses understand and experience caring for alcohol dependent patients in an acute medical ward. The key objectives within this are to (1) explore the thoughts, opinions and perceptions nurses have towards caring for alcohol dependent patients, (2) explore factors which facilitate and impede nursing care of alcohol dependent patients and (3) aid further research to improve overall care of alcohol dependent patients. This proposed research study will use a qualitative research design using principles of hermeneutic phenomenology. A purposive sampling strategy will be utilised with aspects of convenience. The data will be collected through semi structured interviews and analysed using Ricoeur's theory of interpretation. The results of this proposal aim to contribute to nursing practice by aiding further research on the area as well as guiding recommendations for practice and education in order to improve overall care for patients with alcohol dependency.