Carmen R Davis, Alyson Keen, Lauren Compton, Tiffany Rader, Rachel Harbison, Renee Twibell
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Alcohol use affects 14.5 million Americans and high prevalence of use and potential for withdrawal among hospitalized patients presents a challenge for health care professionals to anticipate and manage effectively. Due to the acuity and fast-paced nature of the hospital environment, nurses need assessment tools that can be readily completed and drive efficient protocol-based treatment. The purpose of this study was to examine psychometric properties of the alcohol withdrawal assessment tool (AWAT).
Aims: The aims were to examine AWAT (1) reliability, (2) validity, and (3) usability.
Methods: Patients (n = 55) and nurses (n = 47) were recruited from six hospitals within one health care system in the Midwest. Psychometric testing included inter-rater reliability and criterion-related validity testing, using the Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment of Alcohol Scale-Revised (CIWA-Ar) as a comparison. Usability was assessed with a 5-item Likert-type scale.
Results: Findings supported strong agreement (ICC: .931) between raters on the AWAT and a moderate correlation (Pearson r: .548) between scores on the AWAT and CIWA-Ar. Nurses agreed/strongly agreed that the AWAT took 2 min or less to complete (n = 42; 89%), was easy to use for assessment (n = 42; 89%) was easy to learn (n = 40; 85%), and they were confident using the AWAT (n = 39; 83%).
Conclusions: Study findings provide evidence of reliability, validity, and usability of the AWAT in the hospital setting. The AWAT has potential to improve assessment efficiency and nurses caring for inpatients with mental health disorders should consider implementing the tool into practice.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association (JAPNA) is a peer-reviewed bi-monthly journal publishing up-to-date information to promote psychiatric nursing, improve mental health care for culturally diverse individuals, families, groups, and communities, as well as shape health care policy for the delivery of mental health services. JAPNA publishes both clinical and research articles relevant to psychiatric nursing. This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).