Feasibility of a computerized alcohol screening and personalized written advice in the ED: opportunities and obstacles.

This study evaluates the feasibility of a computerized alcohol screening and intervention in patients seeking care at an emergency department. The aim of the study was to explore prevailing attitudes among nursing staff to alcohol prevention in general and the computerized screening concept before the introduction of the computerized screening procedure. Interviews were performed with six nursing staff members and a written questionnaire applied to all staff participating in training before the implementation of the concept. Observation was done in order to evaluate how the screening was performed and implemented in order to gain more knowledge about possible obstacles to alcohol screening at an emergency department. The project concept of computerized screening and low staff involvement was found to be a feasible way to overcome organizational barriers such as time limitation but there were still important attitudinal barriers among staff; thus a great disparity in practices between different staff members was observed. The results suggest that it is possible, given the time limitation, to include a computerized screening and intervention in the routines of an emergency department, when the staff regard prevention as part of their responsibilities. The findings provide evidence about the acceptability by nursing staff and feasibility of a computerized screening and personalized print out as feed back to the patients.