Introduction:

The consumption of alcoholic beverages is a public health problem and the related patients are attended in health services facilities. Nursing personnel have a crucial role in the attention to these patients, but the levels of ethical sensitivity which these professionals demonstrate can have impacts on the services they provide.

Objective:

To compare the level of ethical sensitivity of nursing personnel regarding the attention to alcohol consuming patients, while considering social and demographic characteristics and alcohol use prevalence.

Methods:

This is a descriptive, transversal, and comparative study. The sample was constituted by 89 nursing professionals working in a healthcare institution of the public sector in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. An Ethical Sensitivity Questionnaire and an Alcohol Consumption Prevalence Questionnaire were used.

Results:

The level of ethical sensitivity in the group of professionals studied turned out to be "regular" (Median=6.44). No significant differences were found considering the social and demographic characteristics or the prevalence of alcohol consumption, except in the moral burden component among those who consumed alcohol in the last year (p<0.05).

Discussion:

The social and demographic characteristics do not seem to have an influence on the level of ethical sensitivity among these professionals, with the exception of those healthcare providers who used alcohol in the last year, suggesting that they might not be appropriately prepared to attend patients with problems of alcohol consumption.

Conclusions:

Considering their regular levels of ethical sensitivity, these nursing professionals might not be appropriately prepared to attend patients with problems of alcohol consumption.