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Managing alcohol withdrawal patients

Case Management Weekly, June 20, 2007

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A few years ago, Saint Joseph Mercy Hospital (SJMH), a 529-bed community-based teaching hospital in Ann Arbor, MI, was losing the battle in providing safe and efficient care for its patients withdrawing from alcohol: Readmissions were high, LOS was increasing, and the patience and satisfaction level among the nursing and physician staff decreased with every call made to security for another patient restraint.

In an effort to improve staff morale and patient care, SJMH's administration created the detox case manager position with the following goals in mind:

·        Decrease adverse patient and nursing staff outcomes

·        Improve physician and nursing comfort in managing alcohol withdrawal patients

·        Identify patients at risk for alcohol withdrawal upon admission to hospital.

"We wanted to accomplish all these goals and solve these problems, but we didn't have a blueprint on how to do it," says Regi Freeman, RN, BSN, detox case manager at SJMH. Freeman was chosen for the role because of her years of experience as a nurse on the medical progressive care unit-the floor that deals with the majority of detox patients. "There wasn't a specific training program. I just had to take the position and run with it," says Freeman.

To read more about SJMH's detox case manager position, visit HCPro.com and clink on case management.

Source: Case Management Monthly, HCPro, Inc

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