Alcohol Use Disorder: Clinical Implications Across the Lifespan

Course overview

Alcohol abuse remains a critical public health concern across the lifespan, contributing to significant morbidity and mortality through its neurocognitive, cardiovascular, metabolic, and psychosocial impacts. This comprehensive course equips nurses with advanced knowledge of alcohol use disorder (AUD), including screening, diagnosis, and evidence-based interventions tailored to special populations such as adolescents, pregnant individuals, and perioperative patients. Drawing on current clinical guidelines, pharmacologic strategies, and public health resources from the CDC, NIAAA, and SAMHSA, nurses will gain practical skills for early identification, harm reduction, and long-term management of patients with unhealthy alcohol use. Through in-depth analysis of psychosocial therapies, medical comorbidities, and interdisciplinary care coordination, learners will be empowered to implement effective, compassionate, and population-specific approaches in diverse practice settings. CE Ready is an ANCC accredited provider of nurse continuing education Learning objectives: By the end of this course, the participant will be able to: Differentiate between risky alcohol use, alcohol misuse, and alcohol use disorder (AUD) using DSM-5-TR and screening criteria. Evaluate current evidence-based pharmacologic and psychosocial treatment options for alcohol use disorder across different populations. Identify the neurologic, cardiac, and metabolic complications associated with chronic alcohol abuse. Apply age-specific strategies for screening, intervention, and prevention of alcohol misuse in adolescents, pregnant individuals, and perioperative patients. Utilize public health resources, such as CDC, NIAAA, and SAMHSA, to support patient education, treatment referral, and community-level interventions.