Abstract
Background
Nurses have an important role in detection and intervention for those with problematic
alcohol consumption. To reduce the societal burden of alcohol consumption, the Australian
guidelines to reduce the health risks from drinking alcohol were revised in 2020.
Aim
To report on nurse awareness of the revised alcohol guidelines and explore nurses’
beliefs around the revised alcohol guidelines.
Methods
A sequential mixed-methods approach used convenience sampling to recruit a national
sample of Australian nurses to complete an online survey to assess guideline awareness.
Qualitative in-depth interviews (n = 42) were used to explore nurses’ education, beliefs,
and awareness of the revised alcohol guidelines. Descriptive statistics were used
to analyse survey responses, and qualitative data were analysed using structural coding.
Findings
Only 8.8% (n = 101) of 1,145 nurse respondents correctly selected the current alcohol
guidelines from four choices. Qualitative analyses suggest nurses poor understanding
of the revised guidelines can be attributed to deficiencies in education and training
on the new guidelines.
Discussion
Responses reflect those of the general community, indicating poor awareness of the
2020 revised alcohol consumption guidelines. Beliefs that guidelines were too strict
were mentioned by nurses. Mapping findings to the Theoretical Domains Framework Behaviour
Change Taxonomy suggested strategies to implement the guidelines into clinical practice
include education and training, organisational support, and role modelling.
Conclusion
Nurses must use contemporary guidelines and practices to reduce the health risks from
alcohol. We suggest tailored education strategies for nurses including role modelling
of guidelines in clinical practice, organisational support, and education to improve
awareness and application.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 25, 2022
Accepted:
November 9,
2022
Received in revised form:
October 12,
2022
Received:
May 25,
2022
Publication stage
In Press Corrected ProofIdentification
Copyright
© 2022 Australian College of Nursing Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
