Alcohol and drug use: can harmful behaviour put your job at risk?

As nurses struggle to cope with staffing and workload pressures, professional expectations, traumatic work events and toxic environments, some resort to harmful behaviours to self-manage stress, anxiety or poor mental health. One study estimates rates of substance misuse, abuse and addiction are as high as 20% among nurses. We explore reasons why nurses hesitate to seek help, and what happens if a nurse is referred to the profession’s regulator the Nursing and Midwifery Council for addiction-related issues.