LAUSR

It is my pleasure to introduce the European Addictions Nursing Special Edition of the Journal of Addictions Nursing. In this issue, the articles address both the art and science of addictions nursing in countries throughout Europe. We begin with a Guest Editorial, “Walls Are not the Answer,” by the International Nursing Society on Addictions' (IntNSA's) current President-Elect, Dr. Carmel Clancy, who is professor and head of the Department for Mental Health and Social Work at Middlesex University; Mr. Peter Kelly, a PhD candidate and a lecturer in mental health nursing and coordinator of postgraduate diploma in recovery focusedmental health; and Dr. Chris Loth, an addictions specialist nurse and owner of Loth Nursing Consultancy, an outpatient clinic for people with mental health problems. These three colleagues have worked together on the next article, “State of the Art in European Addictions Nursing,” and present their unique perspectives from the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the Netherlands. Similar to the United States, some key areas to address in Europe include fighting stigma, focusing on recovery, and designing scope and standards for addictions nursing across Europe. Evidence suggests that nurses are not sufficiently prepared to work with patients who use alcohol and other drugs during their undergraduate education. Drs. Clancy andOyefeso present a case study, “Getting Addiction into Nursing Education,” that employs a mixed-methods longitudinal design to explore perceptions among entry-level nursing students related to alcohol and other drug use and explore whether current alcohol and drug education impact nursing students' perceptions over time. Current literature lacks a consensus about the factors that increase the risk of a patient developing severe alcohol withdrawal. Next, Dr. Benson and colleagues' study, “Risk Factors for Severe Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome in an Acute Care Hospital,” sets out to identify the variables that increase the risk of severe alcohol withdrawal in patients, using a case– control study design. Dr. Catherine Comiskey and her colleagues present the “Client's Views on the Importance of a Nurse Led Approach and Nurse Prescribing” in developing a treatment recovery model. The aim of their study is to establish from clients their nursing needs and to use these findings alongside an objective