Nursing Care Plan for Alcohol Withdrawal Delirium

Sam, a 45-year-old construction worker, is brought into the emergency department by his brother, John. Sam is incoherent, disoriented, tremulous, and shifts in and out of consciousness. At times he makes comments about bugs crawling on his skin. Sam has lived alone for 6 years since his wife died of cancer. They had no children. John brought Sam to the emergency department after receiving a call from Sam’s neighbor, who reported seeing Sam weaving in and out of traffic on the street in front of their houses. John reports that he sees Sam infrequently but believes that Sam drinks whiskey on a daily basis and probably has increased the amount he drinks over the last few years. Sam lost his job a few weeks ago and has been drinking heavily ever since. John postulates that Sam ran out of whiskey a few days ago and hasn’t had money to buy more. John could find no food or alcohol in the house when he went to pick up Sam. The physician admits Sam to the psychiatric unit with a diagnosis of Alcohol Withdrawal Delirium. Lorazepam (Ativan) is ordered on a scheduled and PRN basis.

Design a nursing care plan for Sam.