Date of Award
2024
Document Type
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
Degree Name
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
Department
Nursing
Committee Chair
Haley Hoy
Subject(s)
Alcohol withdrawal syndrome--Prevention, Hospital patients, Prediction of Alcohol Withdrawal Symptom Severity (PAWSS)
Abstract
Alcohol Use Disorder is as a chronic relapsing brain disease encompassing a diminished ability to stop or control alcohol use regardless of the social, health, or occupational consequences. The abrupt cessation of alcohol without appropriate screening and treatment may produce acute alcohol withdrawal that can present as agitation, diaphoresis, palpitations, or moderate and severe withdrawal. The purpose of this DNP project was to implement the Prediction of Alcohol Withdrawal Severity Scale to identify patients at risk for moderate or severe alcohol withdrawal in patients with alcohol abuse disorder or history of alcohol withdrawal. The project involved admitted patients aged 18 years or older with current alcohol use and provider entry on problem list of alcohol abuse disorder, alcohol abuse, or chronic alcohol withdrawal in an acute care hospital medical-surgical unit. The project design was an evidence-based clinical practice change and involved utilization of the Prediction of Alcohol Withdrawal Severity Scale screening tool on inpatients diagnosed with alcohol use disorder in efforts to predict and treat patients at risk for moderate or severe alcohol withdrawal. Patients diagnosed with alcohol withdrawal who were screened with the Prediction of Alcohol Withdrawal Severity Scale were reviewed to determine if they progressed to moderate or severe withdrawal. The project was able to identify patients at risk for moderate or severe withdrawal that led to both a reduction in those patients who went into withdrawal as well as a reduction in the number of patients who transferred to the intensive care unit, overall decreasing healthcare costs. The use of a screening tool to predict moderate or severe alcohol withdrawal provides an effective preventative framework in the treatment of patients who present with alcohol use disorder. Further review is needed regarding this screening tool in conjunction with medication regimes for treatment of alcohol withdrawal symptom management.
Recommended Citation
Rehak, Lesley, "Implementation of a protocol to prevent moderate or severe alcohol withdrawal syndrome in hospitalized patients" (2024). Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP). 122.
https://louis.uah.edu/uah-dnp/122