The obvious purpose is to protect patients from the danger posed by an impaired nurse having access and opportunity to consume alcohol at lunch and during work breaks.  COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO, 1996.

   The assumption was the nurse was sneaking out to her car and drinking on the job, but that was never proven. It did not have to be proven that she was actually drinking on the job, for the nursing home to be able to fire her, the Court of Appeals of Ohio ruled.

   A co-worker's tip led management to call the police. An officer stopped the nurse as she left the parking lot at the end of her shift. The officer had reasonable suspicion for the crime of possession of an open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle, so he searched the nurse's car, while four management employees from the nursing home watched. He found a bottle of wine with a broken seal and poured out the contents. He did not make an arrest. However, the nurse was fired.

   A healthcare facility can have a rule prohibiting employees from possessing alcohol anywhere on its premises, not just inside a building or in a portion of a building where direct patient care takes place. An employee who is proven to have violated the rule can be fired. This includes possession, sale or use of illegal drugs as well.

   The court cautioned employers to be sure to communicate all pertinent work rules to employees, in writing, perhaps in an employee handbook, before taking disciplinary action. The employer should make it clear, before the fact, that "on the premises" includes the employee parking lot and the contents of employees' cars, if that is the interpretation the employer will insist upon later, the court said. Janovsky vs. Ohio Bureau of Employment, 671 N.E. 2d 611 (Ohio App., 1996).