Night beds in psychosocial attention care centers for alcohol and drugs: analysis and characterization.

Objective: To analyze and characterize the use of night beds in a Psychosocial Attention Care Center for Alcohol and Drugs (Centro de Atenção Psicossocial Álcool e Drogas - CAPS ad).

Method: It is a quantitative, documental, descriptive and retrospective study. Data were gathered from 565 medical records. An analysis of continuous variables was performed.

Results: When admitted to the beds, most users (87.6%) consumed multiple substances daily and were vulnerable, specially in street situation (68.3%). These users were admitted on an average of two times, undergoing a previous evaluation by the nurse (85.8%), usually for detoxication or due to the vulnerable condition. They stayed in the center for an average of seven days and 31.1% did not finish what was proposed. For a few cases, hospital support was needed. Overall, discharges were planned, but the return happened without booking.

Conclusion: Social issues cut through the use of night beds, however, it is a therapeutic resource that meets significant demands and is present in the daily lives of vulnerable users as a comprehensive care.