Lawsuit Claims Nurse Was 'Worked to Death'

[Brian]

An Ohio man whose wife died in a car accident earlier this year is suing the hospital where she was a nurse, claiming she was "worked to death," and that the hospital knew about it.

Jim Jasper's wife, Beth, was killed on March 16 while driving home after a 12-hour shift.

The wrongful death lawsuit, filed last week, alleges that from 2011 to the time of her death, Beth Jasper's unit at the Jewish Hospital in Cincinnati was "regularly understaffed," causing some nurses, including Jasper, to work through breaks and pick up additional shifts.

Additionally, Jasper was routinely called into work while off duty because she was one of the few nurses qualified to work the unit's dialysis machines, according to the suit...

Reporter: In a statement, the hospital would only say. Our hearts go out to the family. We do not comment on pending litigation.

A nationwide shortage of nurses has created a dangerous situation. According to the ANA, one in ten nurses say they were involved in an exhaustion-related car accident. They're going to have to show that it would be reasonably foreseeable that the actions of the employer, would lead to the death of the employee.

Full Story and Video: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/ohio-husband-sues-hospital-working-wife-death-20886095

additional coverage:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/video/lawsuit-claims-nurse-worked-death-20878382

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/12/health/ohio-nurse-worked-to-death-lawsuit-says/

Nurses, what do you think about this story? Reply with your opinions. Have you been involved in an exhaustion-related car accident?

[Novo]

Very sad.

What's even worst is her husband has a very weak case in court. Sad to say but maybe it'll take the death of a patient for people to realize how wrong it is to overwork and short staff nurses.

[CrossCountryRN2008]

Even if mandated you can refuse if you feel you are not able and safe. It would hold up in court if you were fired

[LisalaRN99, BSN, RN]

This was very sad indeed! While the lawsuit brings light to the issue of short staffing in hospitals, I do not believe it can be won. As nurses, we have to take care of ourselves. If we go in when we are tired and make a mistake, the hospital is not going to share in any of the blame for that mistake. They did not make you tired. You chose to come in. It's a dirty little lie when you think about it because some hospitals will not employ nurses who do not agree to mandatory overtime. You want a job? Do the overtime. I wish we could all get better unions.

[gcupid]

I am often so tired on my drives that I have to pull over on the side of the road and take a nap. My husband gets really mad when this happens!

He'd be in even a worser mood if he had to plan a funeral...

[kcochrane]

Some employers mandate (force, order) OT. You are written up if you refuse. Get enough write-up's & you get fired.

In some states like NY there is a law against mandation...unless there is a natural disaster. I know other states have the same law, but not sure which. Should be a law everywhere. Lack of planning (or hiring) the part of the hospital should not mean people making others work past what is safe.

[TerpGal02, ASN]

Where I work it is automatic termination if you refuse to stay for mandation ( which makes it a 16 hour shift in the end, 2 8's unless the following shift agrees to come in early). We are only required per our agency policy to have 8 hours off between shifts. That has happened to me once. I was mandated to nights from evenings and had to be in for the following evening. I live an hour away, so I get home at 8:30 and have to leave again by at LEAST 2 to get back for my next shift. So that ends up being around 3 hours of sleep in an over 24 hour period. When that happened to me, by the end of my second evening, I was so delirious I felt like I was drunk, Had to blast the AC in my face on the way home to stay awake. And forget my next days off. The next day I felt like I got hit by a bus. Plus I was massively dehydrated from all the caffeine I had to consume.

We work epically unsafe hours, but if it came down to it, it is always "your choice as the employee" to refuse the mandation or call off for your next shift. Too bad you get fired if you refuse.

At my work they will ALSO schedule you for evenings and then have you come back for days the next day, so again like 3 hrs sleep. I do that every other weekend. It is absolutely bananas

[ShantheRN, BSN, RN]

I am 99% certain this particular hospital doesn't mandate OT. I applied for positions there when I was a new grad. It's a sad situation and definitely demonstrates how you have to keep your best interests as your first priority. There isn't enough information to pass judgement on the hospital. I know nurses that routinely volunteer to work 5-6 12 hour night shifts in a row. No one can work that many hours in a week and be at their best! Personally, I will never work more than 3 concurrently and I only do that every other week. It's too much for me and I know it. The patients need nurses that can safely take care of them.

It will be interesting to see what happens with this. I have friends that work on that unit and their perspective is a bit different than the media's.

[shotcaller28]

I've never been an accident r/t exhaustion but I have been pulled over after working 10 days straight and the last 2 being doubles. I had to do a field sobriety test, breathalyzer, the whole 9 yards.

It was scary. I was totally of my mind. I called my boyfriend to come get me after that. I stayed in my car on the side of the road until he and a friend got there to get me and my car.

I will never, ever, not once do that again.

[AZ_LPN_8_26_13]

@ OP: There isn't now, and never has been a "nationwide shortage of nurses". There are plenty of qualified, educated American citizens willing and able to work as nurses. The shortage is of employers willing to hire them and pay them what they are really worth. Hospitals are under pressure to cut costs and many do it by hiring more unlicensed personnel, hiring foreign nurses, etc all who will work for less money.

[subee, MSN, CRNA]

Shame on the employer who allows nurses to work more than 2 12's in a row. So GLAD I'm retiring at the end of the year. At least I had a chance to take care of patients in much better times and those were the best years of my life.

[wooh, BSN, RN]

Shame on the employer who allows nurses to work more than 2 12's in a row. So GLAD I'm retiring at the end of the year. At least I had a chance to take care of patients in much better times and those were the best years of my life.

Perhaps more than 2 for you is bad, but for me and most of my coworkers, splitting up your three shifts makes the exhaustion even worse. Working three in a row on nights if you have to switch back to a "regular" schedule on your days off is way better for most of the nurses that I know than splitting them up and living in a constant state of back and forth.

[Chisca, RN]

It sounds as if she was a dialysis nurse, if so there is no scheduled shift as you have to stay until every patient that needs dialysis is done. It is easy to rack up 80 hours in one week whether you want to or not. Unless you are trained in dialysis there is no "help" to send. Number 1 reason nurses quit dialysis is the long, unpredictable hours.