RN, MN, PhD candidate; Advanced Practice Clinical Leader, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Presenting on: Wednesday October 27 (workshop)
Session Title: Assessing and Treating Alcohol Withdrawal: Best Practices and Clinical Pearls
Session Description: This workshop will focus on best practices in the assessment and treatment of alcohol withdrawal. The workshop will involve a review of clinical tools used in the assessment of alcohol withdrawal, with a focus on the Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment – Alcohol Revised (CIWA-Ar). Considerations related to assessing and managing alcohol withdrawal in populations with concurrent mental health concerns will be discussed. Further, the workshop will include a review of anti-craving medications for alcohol.
Learning Objectives:
1. Review best practices in alcohol withdrawal management
2. Describe ‘clinical pearls’ related to assessing alcohol withdrawal using the CIWA-Ar
3. Discuss essential adjunct treatments during episodes of alcohol withdrawal
Presenting on: Wednesday October 27 (breakout)
Session Title: Patient experiences of early discharge from an inpatient withdrawal management service
Session Description: Early discharges, also known as “against medical advice” (AMA) discharges, are a common occurrence among people accessing care in inpatient withdrawal management services. Early discharges are associated with a number of negative clinical outcomes, including relapse to substance use and repeated readmissions. The literature examining early discharges from withdrawal management services contains very little information about patient perspectives and reasons for or experiences of early discharge. To address this gap, a qualitative study was conducted which explores patient experiences of early discharge from an inpatient withdrawal management setting.
Learning Objectives:
1.Describe precipitants to early discharges, as described by patients.
2.Describe patient perceptions and experiences of the early discharge process.
3.Discuss possible improvements to ‘AMA’ discharge processes.
Speaker Biography: Sara Ling is a PhD candidate at the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing. Sara is presently employed at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) where she has worked in direct care and leadership roles for the past 11 years. Sara currently works as an Advanced Practice Clinical Leader, providing leadership to the inpatient addictions services serving clients with complex addictions and concurrent disorders. Sara’s doctoral research involves a multi-methods study investigating predictors of early discharge from inpatient withdrawal management services, as well at patient experiences of early discharge.
Niall Tamayo (co-presenter)
Advanced Practice Clinical Leader, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Niall Tamayo is an Advanced Practice Clinical Leader at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. Niall is also completing his Masters in Nursing at Athabasca University. His areas of interest include acute psychiatric care, addictions, and community care.