Beer in the morning?

Nurses Recovery

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I've gone snowboarding/skiing with a younger coworker three times this winter. We meet up at the slopes early in the morning. Others come sometimes, today another young nurse from our unit came, we have a little clique that gets together for outdoor outings.

On all three snowboarding outings this gal had a beer before hitting the slopes, at 9 AM. Today it was a beer and also schnapps in one of those stainless steel small liquor containers. Then mid morning we stopped at the yurt on the slopes and both these gals had another beer. Then at lunch they had more beer.

Honestly, that seems totally excessive to have any alcohol before noon. They both pooped out at 2PM, I stayed till closing time at 4PM. They are both the same age as some of my grown children and I have much more stamina. I think this one gal must have a drinking problem. Do any non-alcoholics have beer or spirits at 9 AM? I told her that she was having an eye opener, just like on our CAGE screening, but she just made light of it. Other than that she's a great snowboarding buddy and coworker.

Any thoughts?

Not usually. A 6 pack usually will last me 2-3 mornings.

Whew - that's good. :coollook:

steph

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

From your description (smashed by 2PM, using a hip-flask to bring liquor onto the slope, afraid to carpool with her), it looks like what you are observing is the the tip of a much larger drinking iceberg. If you care about this individual, you would do well to ask her to do an honest assessment of her drinking and to get help if the result of that assessment indicates abuse.

Alcoholics have all sorts of nifty ways to explain today's excessive round of boozing: "I'm on vacation, so it's OK", "I work night shift so it's OK to be plastered by X oclock", "2 servings a day isn't enough for me", and so on.

By turning a blind eye to it, you join the ranks of her other enablers. Trust your senses and your observations. You're a nurse and you were trained to "call it like you see it".

/soapbox

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Specializes in Telemetry & Obs.

Did they have pizza for breakfast?? ;)

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

FWIW, I am an alcoholic, and I never drank in the mornings. Oh, on the rare occasions when I flew someplace, I'd have one Bloody Mary at the airport before boarding, but that was it.

The OP's friend has a problem, of that I have no doubt. JMHO.

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Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg, Peds, ICU, Tele.

So let's see, 1 beer at 9, 1 beer at 10:30, 2 beers at 12:30 lunch, plus the flask of Schnapps, then left at 2PM to drive down a winding mountain road. They were probably drinking from the flask when they were on the backside chair which is a two person chairlift. And snowboarding through the trees without a helmut. She didn't seem drunk, so that tells me that she has a high tolerance.

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

Oh yeah........tolerance. The thing that makes us alkies believe we DON'T have a problem.

At my worst point in the disease, I was able to drink 30 12-ounce beers in one evening...........and I was still standing. Well, it was more like holding up the side of the building, but I was conscious and somewhat oriented. Don't know what my BAC was, I wouldn't be surprised if it was > 0.40, but I had built up such a high tolerance over the years that a BAC that would have killed an ordinary person didn't even knock me out.

What I didn't know then was that anybody who passes out after a drinking binge is in danger of death from acute ETOH poisoning, and that those who wake up again are either lucky or have high tolerance, which in itself is diagnostic of alcohol dependency. I didn't know that NOT passing out---and thus continuing to drink---was equal to playing Russian roulette.

It sounds to me like this 'friend' is well on her way to self-destruction; if the booze doesn't do it, the snowboarding while impaired might---and Lord help anyone who happens to be in the way when she comes down the hill.

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Specializes in ED, ICU, PACU.

At first, when I started to read this thread, I thought that you were outing with night shifters. I would still think towards that if they displayed other reversed day/night cycles, such as eating and sleeping patterns; but, your further descriptions seem to lean towards some sort of a problem. The amount you describe just doesn't seem to fit the circumstances. However, I do remember night shift co-workers going to bars in the AM for get togethers. Don't think any of them would have brought a flask on an outing :no:

Just stay safe if you decide to go out with them again. I have seen sober looking individuals in the ER with alcohol blood contents that are not compatable with life to the average person-yet, they are impaired and hide it well. Can't base your safety around someone who is impaired just by appearances. Might want to buy one of those portable breathalyzers I have seen advertised in some mail order catalogs.

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Specializes in ER, LTC, MDS, Hospice.

Be careful when you're with her. It sounds like a problem to me. :beercuphe

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I think she has a problem. But I feel to label you as an "enabler" is unfair. For me; that is a word that needs to be used carefully.

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Specializes in Impaired Nurse Advocate, CRNA, ER,.
you would do well to ask her to do an honest assessment of her drinking and to get help if the result of that assessment indicates abuse.

Unfortunately, alcoholics/addicts are incapable of doing an honest assessment of their using (A major sign of addiction is pathological denial). Very few addicts seek treatment without some sort of intervention. It always cracks me up when I see a commercial that says, "Know when to say when." or "Drink responsibly." Alcoholics can't drink responsibly and don't know when to say when. If they could do these two things they wouldn't be an alcoholic.

An intervention is something that causes an addict to stop using and to seek treatment. A planned intervention is designed to make refusal to enter treatment very uncomfortable. So uncomfortable that entering treatment is the least uncomfortable choice. But there are other interventions...divorce, loss of license, arrest/prison, etc. The ultimate intervention and the only known CURE for addiction is death.

Jeff VanVonderen is the balding interventionist with the gray hair/mustache on the show "Intervention" said it never hurts to talk with a friend or colleague about your concerns and having an assessment done by an addiction specialist. In one of his books he says the addict must hear the "your drinking/using is very concerning, perhaps you should seek treatment" an average of 54 times before they actually act on the advice.

"Helping the impaired nurse is difficult, but not impossible. The choices for action are varied. The only choice that is clearly wrong is to do nothing."

- From the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (2001). Chemical Dependency Handbook for Nurse Managers-A Guide for

Managing Chemically Dependent Employees. Chicago: NCSBN,

p. IV.

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Well, FireStarter, you're aptly named! :-)

Being an ETOHic myself, I seem to take keen notice of others' drinking habits. I find myself wanting to judge their drinking and then I call my sponsor because that is what I was taught to do when I start judging what other people are doing! Personally, I am jealous of those "normies" who can and do enjoy a moderate amount of ETOH and not wake up naked, jobless and homeless.

As you said, she didn't appear to drink to the point of intoxication, nor did she seem impaired on the slopes. Sometimes a banana is just a banana.

I am getting a chuckle over how naive you seem to be about the whole thing though. "Do non-alcoholics drink in the morning?" I dunno, do normal people buy lottery tickets in the morning?"

:-) Have a great day!

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.

Lots of non-alcoholics drink in the morning when they are on vacation or having a day off away from home. It's a time to let loose and cut up. I noticed this on the few cruises I went to.

However, it's a big red flag and this situation sounds like it could be, as said above, the tip of the iceburg of a bigger problem.

If you're concerned for her safety on the slopes you can tell her. Or if you're concerned about her drinking you should tell her. If you're concerned about her driving and see her driving, call the police. If you're concerned about patient safety, then use the chain of command.

Otherwise, it's like watching a train heading for a cliff and sometimes you just have to watch helplessly, hoping that when they hit the bottom they get the help they need. I think "interventions" may not be appropriate for you as just a casual friend and coworker. They should be left to chain of command at work or to close faimily.

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