New research estimates around 46,500 nurses and midwives in Australia and New Zealand engage in harmful drinking. By Linda Belardi.

Nurses working long hours are drinking harmful amounts of alcohol, a new study shows, prompting calls for workplace intervention programs to protect public safety and nursing staff. The study of more than 4400 nurses and midwives in Australia and New Zealand found 14 per cent engaged in harmful daily drinking, placing nursing in the top 10 of professions that abuse alcohol. Conducted by researchers at the University of Queensland and the University of Otago, New Zealand, the study found the odds of harmful daily drinking increased the more hours a nurse spent at work. Long working hours were...