The best nursing intervention that should be given to a client if he/she begins to experience alcoholic hallucinosis is to provide a quiet environment for the patient so as to prevent stimulation, i.e., to prevent the patient from creating more responses to that condition. After a very quiet environment has been provided, the administration of medication should be the next thing to do.
However, the person administering should be careful to give only as needed and prescribed. The common prescriptions are CNS (Central Nervous System) depressants. They are usually administered to patients experiencing alcoholic hallucinosis to help them control the symptoms.
Restraining a patient experiencing alcoholic hallucinosis in bed might be counterproductive as it will make the patient more agitated because he might feel trapped and begins to be violent. However, a patient might be restrained to bed if he is violent and capable of hurting himself or others.
If a client is having alcoholic hallucinosis, the first thing a nurse should do is to try and get the client relaxed. The client should be put into an environment that is quiet and free of noise. This will help the client calm down.
Next, the nurse should give the client depressants. It is important that the right amount is given to the client because if the client is given too much, it could make the condition of the alcoholic hallucinosis worse.
Some may feel like they would need to restrain the patient, but that would not be necessary unless they are being threatening to themselves or others. They should also let the client rest.
What the client needs right now is a more quiet environment so that the patient will start to relax. At the same time, some depressants would need to be administered to the patient. It is important that just the right amount will be given so that the patient will not get hurt in the process.
There is no need to restrain the patient as long as the patient is not harming himself or harming other people in the process. There are also some patients who may only get agitated more when they become restrained. It is also not ideal for checking the patient’s blood pressure very often because this will only disrupt the patient’s rest.