Peggy McDaniel, BSN, RN, is an infusion practice manager and occasional blogger on this site

A recent national survey revealed that nurses as a profession are the most dependent on coffee (the survey was commissioned, in part, by Dunkin’ Donuts, though at least conducted by Harris Interactive). The survey asked 3,600 people about their productivity as it related to coffee consumption. The results are interesting if not surprising. Physicians fall in just behind nurses, and hotel workers hold third place.

While working the night shift early in my career, I got my caffeine jolt from diet soda. Not too many years later I developed a taste for coffee by adding hot chocolate to it, in effect creating “mochas” before they were sold for $3.50 each. I still prefer fancier concoctions such as flavored lattes, but in a pinch can be found clutching a packet of powdered creamer over a black cup of hotel room coffee. Some may venture to compare my progressive caffeine consumption to an addiction, and I can’t totally discount that theory. But if you consider that the top three positions on the survey may require work during the night, is it surprising that those who do these jobs also report some dependence on a stimulant? Since many of us seem to depend on caffeine to perform […]