A comparative review of guides for implementing alcohol screening and brief interventions into trauma and primary care settings

The likelihood that a patient is currently using alcohol is high across all health care settings with almost one in four persons in the United States aged 12 years or over reporting excessive drinking on at least one occasion in the past 30 days. Screening and brief intervention (SBI) is an evidence-based approach to help decrease alcohol-related harm among persons seeking health care. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Committee on Trauma, American College of Surgeons, have provided guidelines for implementation of an SBI program within a health care organization. This column provides a comparative overview of three of these guides. These guides provide practical information to help nurses and other health care providers with the planning and implementation of alcohol SBI into routine practice.