Doctors and nurses urge you to avoid coffee and energy drinks. Are they hypocritical?

Nurses in various countries, including the United States, frequently drink caffeinated beverages. 

Even though healthcare workers inform others regarding the detrimental effects of excessive caffeine intake, it is not unheard of for people to grab a cup of coffee before heading to work or staying up through the night. In fact, healthcare professionals, contrary to their own advice, actually utilize caffeine on a regular basis.

A recent research article, published by Beverage Plant Research, notes that healthcare workers, compared to most groups of individuals, consume a large amount of caffeinated beverages. The data, compiled by University of Modena and Reggio Emilia workers Alberto Farinetti and Anna Vittoria Mattioli, mainly highlighted nurses and their caffeine intake.

According to the findings, “88.1% [of nurses] in the United States have at least one cup of coffee and 11.9% have at least one energy drink a day.”  The results were more extreme in Korea where “92% [of nurses] had at least one cup of coffee and 64% have at least one energy drink a day.”

If so many healthcare providers are using caffeine, are they lying about its adverse effects?

While it may seem easy to reach the conclusion that healthcare workers are exaggerating the adverse effects of caffeine, they most definitely are not. Caffeine is a psychostimulant, a drug that increases brain activity. According to Farinetti, one of caffeine's effects on the brain is that it “stimulates [the adrenal gland to] release adrenaline.”

Adrenaline is a vasoconstrictor which essentially means that adrenaline forces your blood vessels to constrict. The human body naturally releases adrenaline when presented with stressful situations because it increases blood flow around the body by increasing heart rate and blood pressure. While an increased heart rate is useful in stressful situations, caffeinated beverages trick the body into releasing adrenaline in non-stressful situations.

With elevated levels of caffeine, introduced by caffeinated beverages like coffee and energy drinks, the persistent release of adrenaline can lead to harmful cardiovascular responses. One of these responses is the generation of a heart arrhythmia. A heart arrhythmia is when the heart beats at an irregular rate. Arrhythmias could lead to further cardiovascular complications such as heart failure.

If there are such dangerous side effects, why do healthcare professionals still consume caffeinated beverages?

Due to the nature of the healthcare profession, a lot of nurses and doctors work night shifts to provide 24/7 care. Night shifts negatively affect the human bodys’ natural sleep cycle, which can cause “fatigue, anxiety, and depression” (Farinetti). To circumvent these negative effects, nurses consume caffeinated beverages to keep themselves awake and able to provide care during these stressful hours.

This is rather unfortunate because caffeinated beverages come with a vast array of unhealthy side effects. Ironically, two of these side effects are poor sleep quality and quantity. Essentially, the little sleep that healthcare providers do obtain is not adequately replenishing their energy for the next day.

This leads to a paradoxical situation that may raise some ethical concerns for some individuals. Nurses and doctors preach and promote a healthy lifestyle, but do not have one themselves if they are forced to work night shifts and provide care to others. However, if nurses and doctors did not work the night shift, care would be delayed for individuals who are injured during those hours.

As of now, doctors and nurses aid those in trouble, yet do not have any other solutions to keep themselves awake. Until a better alternative is provided for healthcare workers, they may just have to rely on the wings that Red Bull gives them.

Bibliography

1. Farinetti A, Coppi F, Salvioli B, Mattioli AV. 2024. Night shifts and consumption of energy drinks by healthcare personnel. Beverage Plant Research doi: 10.48130/bpr-0024-0017