Study from Ohio State University Finally Gives Nurses An Excuse to Drink After Work

A recent study out of Ohio State University found that nurses’ mental and physical health is tied to the number of medical mistakes they make. But one sad thing they also found is that nurses who felt that their hospital cared about their health were twice as likely to have better physical.

Now aside from the fact that this study was an email survey and thus pretty much bullshit, nurses can rest easy now that they can blame their hospital for their bad habits while off the clock. Imagine if hospitals actually cared about their staff and invested in their physical and mental health rather than spending money on “HEROES WORK HERE” signs. Now wake up from that daydream and realize that for most nurses, this is so far from reality that it’s comical.

Nurses are notorious for caring for everyone but themselves and it’s been a problem for as long as I can remember. This study shows that if hospitals started providing the necessary services for their staff that they would actually have better patient outcomes and happier staff. How is that NOT a priority?

Unfortunately, I don’t see this happening anytime soon. But I will now point to this study when someone asks me why I’m drinking at 8am after a night shift and say “don’t blame me, blame the institution”. And I’m actually kind of okay with that.