Abstract
Background: Registered nurses comprise the largest group of health care professionals and they are the group that is most frequently in direct contact with patients, including those with alcohol use disorder (AUD). Sensitive and non-stigmatising approaches to patients play a crucial role in the therapeutic process.
Aims: To explore nurses' attitudes to patients with AUD and compare them between psychiatric nurses and nurses working in somatic medicine. Sample: The sample consisted of 92 registered nurses. 43 of them worked in psychiatric departments (excluding addiction treatment wards) and 49 worked in three inpatient somatic medicine wards.
Convenient sampling was used. Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted in February and March 2016.
Self-reported paper-and-pen 15-item questionnaires were administered. Results: The registered nurses' attitudes to patients with AUD were ambivalent.
While moral judgements were widely prevalent, the bio-psycho-social model of addiction was also recognised. No substantial differences between the nurses from psychiatric wards and those from somatic medicine wards were found.
Conclusion: The nurses' primarily moralistic attitudes to patients with AUD represent an important negative factor in the therapeutic process. Mandatory addiction-specific training for nurses is recommended.