Nurses' attitudes toward the alcoholic can have a profound impact on the person suffering from alcoholism. These attitudes can affect the alcoholic's care and even whether the alcoholic chooses to recover. This study investigated attitudes of approximately 68 nurses employed in hospitals, 49 nurses in treatment facilities, 58 nursing students, and 27 instructors in schools of nursing. The independent variables were: level of nursing education achieved, type of nursing position held, formal alcoholism education, and alcoholism in the family. Dependent variables were psychological etiology, social rejection, physical genetic, humanitarian, moral weakness, and medical illness. Five composite null hypotheses were tested. The results appear to support the following generalizations: (1) participants working in alcoholism treatment facilities had a more accepting attitude toward alcoholics; (2) nurses who were Licensed Practical Nurses and Registered Nurses with baccalaureate degrees had a more humane attitude toward alcoholics; (3) those who received their nursing education during the interval 1975-1985 had a more humane attitude toward alcoholics; (4) college faculty were more likely to view alcoholism as a medical illness; and (5) nurses who reported no alcoholism in their families had a stronger belief in the genetic predisposition toward alcoholism. There were associations between attitude toward alcoholics and the type of position held, level of education, when the nursing education was received, and alcoholism in the family. (Author/LLL)