An assessment of hospital care for the alcoholic patient

Abstract

Current medical practice, vis-à-vis chemical dependency, was assessed in a university hospital setting. Findings indicate that the majority of physicians and nurses at this facility (1) did not take adequate alcohol and drug use histories, (2) did not identify chemical dependency as a medical problem even when they knew dependency was present, and (3) did not involve themselves in treatment or treatment recommendations even when the problem was identified.