Nurses play a critical role in public education regarding the assessment of medical problems related to alcoholism or alcohol abuse. Nurses must assess their personal attitudes toward the disease concept of alcoholism before they can effectively provide services to geriatric patients who are alcoholics or who abuse alcohol. Among the geriatric population, there is a constellation of medical problems related to alcoholism and alcohol abuse. Potentially dysfunctional attitudes exist among nurses and other health-care professionals who are involved in the provision of medical care to geriatric patients who have alcoholism or who abuse alcohol.