Time-Conscious Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention for Students, Nurses, and Nurse Leaders

Alcohol is the third leading cause of death and a preventable risk factor contributing to more than 200 diseases and conditions. Unquestionably, health care practitioners should routinely screen and give patients brief feedback on alcohol consumption related to health outcomes; however, they rarely ask patients about alcohol use. Alcohol screening and brief intervention (SBI), a public health model of prevention and identification of at-risk alcohol use, has not been widely disseminated. The nursing profession, the largest and most trusted sector of the health care workforce, is perfectly poised to close this gap. This article describes the development of a two-university, grant-funded collaborative online educational program with unique and time-conscious simulation and testing components to increase the knowledge and skills of nurses. The goal of the program is to promote alcohol SBI as a standard of practice in all settings.