Implementation of mMINDS monitoring for alcohol withdrawal at an inpatient academic psychiatric facility
Introduction Patients who abruptly stop the consumption of alcohol are at risk of alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS). Guidelines recommend the use of a validated clinical withdrawal scoring tool to assess the severity of a patient’s withdrawal. The modified Minnesota Detoxification Scale (mMINDS) pro...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Mental Health Clinician |
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| Online Access: | https://theijpt.org/doi/pdf/10.9740/mhc.2025.08.201 |
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| author | Leah A. Surbaugh, PharmD, BCPP Taylor Kelsey, PharmD, BCPP Brittany L. Melton, PharmD, PhD Karen E. Moeller, PharmD, BCPP |
| author_facet | Leah A. Surbaugh, PharmD, BCPP Taylor Kelsey, PharmD, BCPP Brittany L. Melton, PharmD, PhD Karen E. Moeller, PharmD, BCPP |
| author_sort | Leah A. Surbaugh, PharmD, BCPP |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction
Patients who abruptly stop the consumption of alcohol are at risk of alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS). Guidelines recommend the use of a validated clinical withdrawal scoring tool to assess the severity of a patient’s withdrawal. The modified Minnesota Detoxification Scale (mMINDS) provides detailed definitions to help guide nurses in objectively scoring patients’ withdrawal symptoms. Although mMINDS has been validated in a medical intensive care unit, it has not yet been validated in a psychiatric facility.
Methods
The primary objective was to determine if using mMINDS was preferred by nurses and increased confidence in assessing AWS compared with the current standard of care in an adult inpatient psychiatric hospital. After 3 months of using mMINDS, nurses were asked to complete a survey to assess their preference and confidence with mMINDS. A retrospective review was also conducted on all patients, 18 years and older, who were monitored for AWS both pre- and post-implementation of mMINDS.
Results
Overall, 60% (n = 12) of nurses selected mMINDS as the scoring tool they felt most confident with assessing AWS. Patients in the mMINDS group also received lower cumulative doses of benzodiazepines, although this finding did not reach statistical significance (0.75 mg post-implementation vs. 1.75 mg pre-implementation [P = 0.101]).
Discussion
The use of mMINDS was preferred by nurses for monitoring AWS in patients hospitalized at an inpatient psychiatric hospital. These results suggest that mMINDS may be an effective tool for monitoring AWS in an inpatient psychiatric setting. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7199b5e409d84bf0a5e05ce9cba2d097 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2168-9709 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Mental Health Clinician |
| spelling | doaj-art-7199b5e409d84bf0a5e05ce9cba2d0972025-08-23T16:55:39ZengAmerican Association of Psychiatric PharmacistsMental Health Clinician2168-97092025-08-0115420120710.9740/mhc.2025.08.201i2168-9709-15-4-201Implementation of mMINDS monitoring for alcohol withdrawal at an inpatient academic psychiatric facilityLeah A. Surbaugh, PharmD, BCPP0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7521-2153Taylor Kelsey, PharmD, BCPP1https://orcid.org/0009-0009-8929-9734Brittany L. Melton, PharmD, PhD2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6994-753XKaren E. Moeller, PharmD, BCPP3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2863-83351 Assistant Professor, East Tennessee State University Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy, Johnson City, Tennessee2 Psychiatric Clinical Pharmacist, University of Kansas Health System, Kansas City, Kansas3 Professor and Interim Chair, The University of Kansas School of Pharmacy, Lawrence, Kansas4 (Corresponding author) Clinical Professor, The University of Kansas School of Pharmacy, Lawrence, KansasIntroduction Patients who abruptly stop the consumption of alcohol are at risk of alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS). Guidelines recommend the use of a validated clinical withdrawal scoring tool to assess the severity of a patient’s withdrawal. The modified Minnesota Detoxification Scale (mMINDS) provides detailed definitions to help guide nurses in objectively scoring patients’ withdrawal symptoms. Although mMINDS has been validated in a medical intensive care unit, it has not yet been validated in a psychiatric facility. Methods The primary objective was to determine if using mMINDS was preferred by nurses and increased confidence in assessing AWS compared with the current standard of care in an adult inpatient psychiatric hospital. After 3 months of using mMINDS, nurses were asked to complete a survey to assess their preference and confidence with mMINDS. A retrospective review was also conducted on all patients, 18 years and older, who were monitored for AWS both pre- and post-implementation of mMINDS. Results Overall, 60% (n = 12) of nurses selected mMINDS as the scoring tool they felt most confident with assessing AWS. Patients in the mMINDS group also received lower cumulative doses of benzodiazepines, although this finding did not reach statistical significance (0.75 mg post-implementation vs. 1.75 mg pre-implementation [P = 0.101]). Discussion The use of mMINDS was preferred by nurses for monitoring AWS in patients hospitalized at an inpatient psychiatric hospital. These results suggest that mMINDS may be an effective tool for monitoring AWS in an inpatient psychiatric setting.https://theijpt.org/doi/pdf/10.9740/mhc.2025.08.201psychiatryalcohol withdrawalmodified minnesota detoxification scalealcoholclinical institute withdrawal assessment for alcohol |
| spellingShingle | Leah A. Surbaugh, PharmD, BCPP Taylor Kelsey, PharmD, BCPP Brittany L. Melton, PharmD, PhD Karen E. Moeller, PharmD, BCPP Implementation of mMINDS monitoring for alcohol withdrawal at an inpatient academic psychiatric facility Mental Health Clinician psychiatry alcohol withdrawal modified minnesota detoxification scale alcohol clinical institute withdrawal assessment for alcohol |
| title | Implementation of mMINDS monitoring for alcohol withdrawal at an inpatient academic psychiatric facility |
| title_full | Implementation of mMINDS monitoring for alcohol withdrawal at an inpatient academic psychiatric facility |
| title_fullStr | Implementation of mMINDS monitoring for alcohol withdrawal at an inpatient academic psychiatric facility |
| title_full_unstemmed | Implementation of mMINDS monitoring for alcohol withdrawal at an inpatient academic psychiatric facility |
| title_short | Implementation of mMINDS monitoring for alcohol withdrawal at an inpatient academic psychiatric facility |
| title_sort | implementation of mminds monitoring for alcohol withdrawal at an inpatient academic psychiatric facility |
| topic | psychiatry alcohol withdrawal modified minnesota detoxification scale alcohol clinical institute withdrawal assessment for alcohol |
| url | https://theijpt.org/doi/pdf/10.9740/mhc.2025.08.201 |
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