"It's going to be a glass of wine shift:" a qualitative exploration of alcohol cultures in nursing in Australia.

Abstract

Introduction: Alcohol use is prevalent among nurses, with previous studies describing high levels of risky or hazardous alcohol consumption among this occupational group. Drinking cultures, defined as the patterns, norms and values that exist within a subgroup within society, have been shown to influence alcohol consumption among occupational groups. The aim of this paper is to explore alcohol cultures in nursing in Australia, by applying the Alcohol Cultures Framework to two qualitative datasets.

Methods: Secondary, framework-driven analysis of two qualitative datasets of interviews with nurses, one collected in 2021 with 42 participants, and one collected in 2023/2024 with 55 participants. Structural coding was used to analyse data according to the Alcohol Cultures Framework.

Results: Participants described an alcohol culture that was anchored in ideas of being able to handle any eventuality arising in their nursing role, which created stress. Participants described conversations around the use of alcohol to ameliorate this stress as normalised in their workplace, particularly in response to critical incidents; in these instances, alcohol was often considered the "go-to." Drinking cultures were also described as being positively encouraged, with beliefs that alcohol consumption was part of the nursing identity.

Discussion and conclusions: In this paper, we have explored the concept of the alcohol culture among nurses, finding alcohol consumption normalised and expected in some environments, particularly in the context of critical and stressful incidents. Nurses need to be provided education into their role and how it may result in harmful alcohol consumption, with nursing administrators being mindful of the impact of alcohol cultures and the normalisation of harmful alcohol consumption on nurse wellbeing.