Alcoholism is a disease, and according to the definition of the group of experts of the World Health Organization, "An alcoholic can be considered a person whose permanent and excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages damages his health, social or economic condition, or at least that there are signs of such damage". The branch of medicine that does research of alcohol and its consequences is called alcohology. According to the prevalence, in the world statistics, alcoholism as a disease is in third place, just behind heart and vascular diseases and malignant tumors. Early signs of alcoholism are the first signs of losing control, drinking large quantities of alcohol, frequent drinking and excessive drinking, the first complaints of the family, the first complaints in the working environment, the first signs of indiscipline in the family and workplace, average lifetime age of alcoholic person is less than 30 years old and there are present subjective worries because of drinking. The aim of this work is to show alcoholism as a public health problem, its course, treatment and consequences. In the process of treatment, rehabilitation and reintegration the nurse in one of the most important members of medical team. The work of nurses with the patient and his family is one of the most demanding nursing tasks. She can provide a lot of support and greatly assist to the successful treatment. The primary imperative of treatment is abstinence, the purpose of the treatment is to establish human relationships between alcoholics and their families and between addicts and professional staff and also at acceptance, trust, honesty and support.