Overcoming mixed messages on alcohol consumption: A teaching strategy

Self-assessment of alcohol consumption as a health-education strategy in nursing students

BACKGROUND

In the field of preventive activities, early identification of excessive alcohol consumption is essential. The simplicity of existing instruments for detecting hazardous drinking makes for ready assimilation in university students.

OBJECTIVE

To ascertain nursing students' level of knowledge about alcohol prevention activities and assess their skills, acquired through self-assessment of their own alcohol consumption, in managing tools designed to detect hazardous drinkers.

DESIGN

Before and after intervention study.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We assessed 1060 nursing students and ascertained their level of knowledge about excessive alcohol consumption. Following an educational intervention in which students were taught to use the recommended screening instruments in clinical practice through self-assessment of their own consumption (Systematic Interview of Alcohol Consumption and Alcohol Use Disorders Inventory Test), we tested the skills acquired in detecting hazardous drinkers and their knowledge of alcohol prevention activities.

RESULTS

Initially, the concept of hazardous drinker was known by only 24.1% of students and the method of quantifying alcohol consumption by only 3.1%. The prevalence of hazardous drinkers was 17.9% (95% CI: 15.5-20.3). After the educational intervention, 95.8% of students stated that they understood the concept of hazardous drinker and 92.5% stated that they understood how to quantify alcohol consumption, with these proportions being significantly higher than those obtained at baseline (p<0.001). When asked about the intervention's usefulness, 91.3% viewed it favourably.

CONCLUSION

By using a simple educational intervention, nursing students can improve their knowledge and skill detection of hazardous drinkers and quantification of alcohol consumption. These concepts allow for students to be satisfactorily introduced into the prevention activities during their university education. After assessing their own consumption, a considerable proportion of students realise that they are indulging in excessive alcohol consumption, which could in turn make for greater awareness of the problem among future health professionals.

Alcohol education and training in pre-registration nursing: a national survey to determine curriculum content in the United Kingdom (UK)

BACKGROUND

Alcohol-related harm impacts significantly on the health of the population. Nurses are often among the first health professionals that many patients with alcohol-related problems come into contact with and have been identified as playing a key role but may be ill-prepared to respond. Future nurses need to have the skills, knowledge and clinical confidence to respond to patients suffering from alcohol-related harm. A pre-registration curriculum that ensures a nursing workforce fit for practice in responding to alcohol-related harm is necessary.

OBJECTIVES

To determine the level of alcohol education and training content in the pre-registration curriculum for nursing in the United Kingdom (UK). To establish whether there are variations in the pre-registration curriculum content across the UK.

DESIGN

A descriptive study.

SETTING

All 68 UK Higher Education Institutions offering a total of 111 pre-registration courses for nurses were invited to participate in the study.

PARTICIPANTS

Twenty nine completed questionnaires were returned, a response rate of 26%. The largest number of identified responders were from England (n=15), with 3 from Scotland and 1 each from Wales and Northern Ireland. Nine Universities chose not to identify themselves.

METHODS

An online semi-structured questionnaire survey was used to collect the study data.

RESULTS

Teaching of alcohol and alcohol related harm was mainly delivered during the second year of a pre-registration nursing programme provided mainly to adult and mental health students. Overall, the majority of alcohol related content that is provided within the responding pre-registration nursing courses relates to biophysiology, aetiology, and pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions.

CONCLUSION

This study highlights the need for a greater and more relevant focus of alcohol education to pre-registration nursing students of all fields of practice incorporating an integrated approach across all years of study.

The legacy of "Joanna": the role of ethical debate in nurse preparation

INTRODUCTION

The author was involved in nursing "Joanna", a neonate who was born in 1980 with a serious form of spina bifida. A scenario describing the Joanna case was introduced to two groups of students in order to enhance critical thinking skills and encourage ethical debate in the classroom. Critical thinking skills, which are essential in professional practice, include the honest appraisal of intellectual positions adopted by one's self and others, and caring about the dignity and worth of each person (Ennis 1996, cited in Robinson, 2011).

METHODOLOGY

The scenario was presented as a case study to two classes, one of which comprised undergraduate nursing students, the other, mature-aged retirees. The International Council of Nurses Code of Ethics (2006) was used to critically analyze the concepts of quality of life and empowerment. The qualitative raw data was collected from both groups and compared.

DISCUSSION

Nurses are in a key position to identify potential ethical conflicts but need adequate supports in place in order to become empowered and advocate for patients. The differing attitudes towards Joanna and the care she received reflected the different quantities and types of life experiences available in the two class groups.

CONCLUSION

Nurse education programs now accept greater numbers of students from diverse backgrounds; therefore, educators need to plan for these differences in life experience when inducting students into professional practice. The outcome of introducing the scenario into the classroom demonstrates the imperative of seeking a wide variety of perspectives to develop ethical debate and preparation for professional practice.