TikTok comedian Ben South, known as Dabodabo, recently shared why he decided to leave nursing shortly after completing his studies. He revealed that balancing his passion for comedy with the demands of a nursing career was difficult, especially as the experience of witnessing numerous accidents and deaths during his time at Suntreso Hospital in Kumasi took an emotional toll on him.
During an interview on The Delay Show, Ben South recounted that he ultimately chose comedy because it brought joy to him and his audience. He explained, “I couldn’t manage both nursing and comedy, so I had to pick one—and I chose comedy. As a content creator, you always have to be ready for ideas. While working at the hospital as a national service staff member, I was assigned to the Emergency Ward, where I encountered many tragic incidents. When I got home, I often felt sad thinking about all the loss and trauma I saw there.”
When asked if he had anticipated these challenges, Ben South explained that he trained as a psychiatric nurse, where he often encountered humor in the work. He noted that psychiatric nursing includes dealing with conditions like pseudobulbar affect (PBA), where a patient may laugh uncontrollably for extended periods, making interactions amusing at times. “Imagine someone laughing nonstop in a hospital for 30 minutes—you can’t help but laugh too! That’s why I preferred psychiatric nursing to general nursing,” he shared, adding that the lighter moments in psychiatric nursing even inspired content for his comedy.
