Evaluation of a pilot training program in alcohol screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment for nurses...

Alcohol screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) is a set of clinical strategies for reducing the burden of alcohol-related injury, disease, and disability. SBIRT is typically considered a physician responsibility but calls for interdisciplinary involvement requiring basic SBIRT knowledge and skills training for all healthcare disciplines. The purpose of this pilot study was to design, implement, and evaluate a theory-driven SBIRT training program for nurses in inpatient settings (RN-SBIRT) that was developed through an interdisciplinary collaboration of nursing, medical, and public health professionals and tailored for registered nurses in the inpatient setting. In this three-phase study, we evaluated (1) RN-SBIRT's effectiveness for changing nurses' alcohol-related knowledge, clinical practice, and attitudes and (2) the feasibility of implementing the inpatient curriculum. In a quasi-experimental design, two general medical units at our facility were randomized to receive RN-SBIRT or a self-directed Web site on alcohol-related care. We performed a formative evaluation of RN-SBIRT, guided by the RE-AIM implementation framework. After training, nurses in the experimental condition had significant increases in Role Adequacy for working with drinkers and reported increased performance and increased competence for a greater number of SBIRT care tasks. Despite some scheduling challenges for the nurses to attend RN-SBIRT, nurse stakeholders were highly satisfied with RN-SBIRT. Results suggest that with adequate training and ongoing role support, nurses in inpatient settings could play active roles in interdisciplinary initiatives to address unhealthy alcohol use among hospitalized patients.