Therapeutic Methods Including the Tasks of a Nurse and Evaluation of Their Effectiveness in the Opinion of Patients after Craniocerebral Trauma with a Diagnosis of Alcohol use Disorder

Abstract

Introduction. Alcoholism is a phenomenon with multi-factorial conditions and numerous health and social consequences, which makes its treatment a real challenge not only for the addict himself and his relatives, but also for the entire medical team involved in the therapy process. For this reason, in order to strengthen the therapeutic effects of alcoholic disease, it is important to conduct research aimed at determining the factors that shape the effectiveness of the implemented methods. With this in mind, it has been assumed that the aim of the research is to determine the relationship between the therapeutic methods used in the Clinical Alcohol Dependency Therapy Unit (COTUA), taking into account the tasks of a nurse, and the assessment of their effectiveness in the perception of patients after craniocerebral trauma with a diagnosis of alcohol disease. Material and Methods. 100 COTUA patients were tested, in which the diagnostic survey method was used and a questionnaire was chosen as a technique. Results. The conducted analyses showed that, in the opinion of the respondents, the leading tasks of the nurses at COTUA include informing patients about the principles and methods of therapy, familiarizing them with the topography of the ward, the Charter of Patient’s Rights, the regulations of the ward, the schedule of the day and its specifics, administering medicines, providing a sense of safety, providing psychological support, transferring knowledge and learning how to live with the disease and cooperating with the therapeutic team. In addition, three quarters of the respondents indicated that the nurses working in the ward are willing to talk to patients about alcohol dependence, and a comparable percentage of the respondents assessed the effectiveness of the therapeutic methods used by the therapeutic team in relation to their own alcohol dependence problem very well and well. Conclusions. Patients’ assessment of the effectiveness of the therapeutic methods used depends on the nurses’ tasks of conducting therapeutic conversations with patients, providing them with knowledge, learning how to live with the disease, cooperating with the therapeutic team and the nurses’ readiness to talk to patients about alcohol dependence. (JNNN 2021;10(1):26–34)