Family claims hospital's staff shortage responsible for fatal crash

Nurses General Nursing

Published

CINCINNATI --The family of a Jewish Hospital nurse who died in a crash in March says the hospital is to blame for her death.

Elizabeth Jasper, 38, was killed in March when her sport utility vehicle ran off U.S. 50 and hit a tree as she was driving home from an overnight shift at the hospital.

In a lawsuit filed in Hamilton County, Jasper's family contends that her death was a direct result of overwork caused by staff shortages.

Read more: http://www.wlwt.com/news/local-news/cincinnati/nurses-family-hospitals-staff-shortage-responsible-for-fatal-crash/-/13549970/22853420/-/14oacmsz/-/index.html#ixzz2k0kObPuF

So tragic and sad. . .and completely unnecessary. We have all seen the studies about how when people are sleep deprived they function at the same level or even BELOW the level of people who have a BAC over the legal limit. I had a family member who worked overnight in a cardiac cath lab back in the late 80s. The lab was new to that hospital and the doc really wanted to get it up and rolling so he had her working ALL THE TIME. She used to be so worried about driving home when she was exhausted. There were these rubber strip type of things on the freeway at that time, every however many yards. She said she was driving home one night and the rhythmic thump--thump--thump made her start to fall asleep. She was lucky enough that her husband was could pick her up in the AM after that. When she told me that story I thought it was just crazy that someone who spent all night ripping people back from the brink of death had to risk her life just to get home. What's it gonna take? I feel so terrible for her family.

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Specializes in Emergency/Cath Lab.

While sad, it isnt the hospitals fault she crashed.

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The comments posted under that article are infuriating! People are acting like that woman knew what she was getting into becoming a nurse, and she should have been more responsible. If a hospital decides to open a specialized unit like that, it is management's responsibility to make sure it is staffed adequately. If there is not enough staff to make sure both the patients AND the employees are safe, then they aren't prepared to have that unit open. If there's not enough money to hire more nurses, then they don't have the budget to keep that unit open.

I doubt the family will get any sort of financial settlement, and I'm sure they know that. Their real goal might be to raise a little bit of awareness concerning nursing staffing issues, and maybe prevent similar tragedies in the future.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
In the complaint, the family claims that the hospital cancelled her (their?) insurance coverage the day after she died.

I'll bet they did....she is no longer employed.

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.

I don't understand the significance of cancelling her policy after her death. That doesn't mean that the life insurance won't pay out. It was still in effect on the day she died, and her family will still receive her life insurance.

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

It's not common to keep an insurance policy in effect if the beneficiary dies. If it was a family policy cobra notices would get sent out.

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Specializes in LTC Rehab Med/Surg.

Life is full of hard choices. We CHOOSE to work nights. We CHOOSE to go to work, even though it's killing us, or stressing us out. We CHOOSE not to eat, or drink, or pee, during any 12 hr shift. We CHOOSE to stay at a job that doesn't value us.

I believe in personal responsibility. Firmly. But I also recognize that when we're stessed, exhausted, and overworked, we don't always make the smartest choices. I also recognize that when there are two choices, work at a bad facility/or go bankrupt, most of us choose the less evil. Whatever that is.

I could be that nurse any THREE mornings of the week, but that's a choice I make. Because her family could be mine any three mornings of the week, I'm sorry for their loss.

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Specializes in Hospice.

This is very tragic. I hope all my night shift colleagues will truly take this to heart. I only have a 15 minute commute to work, but there are other nurses I work with at night that drive an hour or more home. Please all of you who drive a long distance pull over when you are getting drowsy, your life depends on it.

We need to learn to say NO when asked to pull OT shifts if we are too tired or stressed to do it safely! If you don't look out for yourself nobody else will either.

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Specializes in ICU.
Life is full of hard choices. We CHOOSE to work nights. We CHOOSE to go to work, even though it's killing us, or stressing us out. We CHOOSE not to eat, or drink, or pee, during any 12 hr shift. We CHOOSE to stay at a job that doesn't value us.

I believe in personal responsibility. Firmly. But I also recognize that when we're stessed, exhausted, and overworked, we don't always make the smartest choices. I also recognize that when there are two choices, work at a bad facility/or go bankrupt, most of us choose the less evil. Whatever that is.

I could be that nurse any THREE mornings of the week, but that's a choice I make. Because her family could be mine any three mornings of the week, I'm sorry for their loss.

I chose to be a nurse, I have nothing to do with staffing.

One hospital I've worked at was always short staffed, and if there was an open nurse, they sent someone home. Nevermind we might get critical admissions. We were tripled in ICU, ALL. THE. TIME. you'd end up staying late to chart, and there was always mandatory meetings or education. And online education that we were supposed to have time on our shifts to complete. They crucified anyone who made a mistake. We had at least two nurses get into car accidents while I was there.

I left, but not everyone has that luxury.

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This is horrible and the hospital doesn't care one bit. They will replace her and move on. That is something many nurses do not understand. The facility does not care about you. Your loyalty means zero. I know we tend to overextend ourselves trying to balance work and family but just pull over. Your family would rather have you 20 minutes later than never again.

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As hospitals face monetary shortages, they will try to save money, and as a result nurses will be required to work under dangerous conditions. Our jobs are difficult, demanding, exhausting, and stressful. I believe as a group we need to demand better working conditions and have more say in our staffing and working conditions. We are one of the largest professions in the United States; however, we cannot work together nor help each other. Fire and Police are respected with promised rights, why aren't we? We work hard, put our lives on the line everyday, and do it with a smile. Why do we fear demanding respect, good staffing, and breaks?

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Specializes in ICU / PCU / Telemetry / Oncology.

I used to live 30 minutes away from work and it was common for me to nod behind the wheel after night shift, I hated it. One morning I nodded off so much that I ended up on the grass median between eastbound and westbound lanes (the bumpy ride woke me up, thankfully nothing happened to me and the car but you better believe I was wide awake the rest of the way home). I have since relocated to a place within 10 minutes of the hospital and nodding off is no longer an issue, I fall asleep right away when I am in bed. And leaving that House of Horrors was way overdue, but that's another story :D

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