The sheriff's office arrested Proctor and charged her with homicide by vehicle in the second degree. She was booked into the Forsyth County Jail.
After finishing her third night shift, Proctor was driving home when she fell asleep behind the wheel, causing a fatal accident. She wasn't impaired by alcohol or drugs, but authorities charged her with second-degree vehicular homicide and took her into custody.
Lack of sleep can be just as dangerous as drinking and driving. According to the CDC, being awake for 17 hours is like having a blood alcohol concentration of 0.05%, and staying awake for 24 hours is similar to having a BAC of 0.10%, which is above the legal limit for driving in the U.S.
Read the full story and share your nightshift scares or how you manage to maintain a safe and healthy sleep schedule when working as a nurse.
The real question that lingers is, is this fair and just?
To charge someone for a tragedy caused by sleep deprivation from working a tireless job that gives back to our communities? Or should there be more focus on the system that pushes nurses past their limit?
Night shift nursing can be extraordinarily demanding, often requiring us to push through long hours that can stretch beyond the scheduled time. Whether it's a patient in crisis, staffing shortages, or the need to run errands after a shift, many of us have found ourselves functioning on limited sleep. It's not a situation we enter willingly, rather, it's a reflection of the pressures inherent in our roles.
This story hits home for me. I totaled my vehicle on the way home from my 3rd 14 hour shift, because as a new nurse and night RN, I found most days were 14's, not 12's. I would go in early to read up and get my footing on my cardiac patients and in-services/ delays with the oncoming, would push me beyond 12 regularly. I was a single mom (recent military widow) and I couldn't keep the same schedule on off days because kids are day dwellers. I crossed a lane of traffic 10 minutes from my house (I thank God every day there was no one in that lane), slammed into a concrete culvert in a ditch, and woke to utter shock, bruised but otherwise unscathed. At the time I thought I fell asleep, but I now question that. A few weeks later, I felt like I was in a stupor. I was flagged by occupational health at my birthday check-up for MRSA on my knee and told to go home. My immune system was pitching a fit and within month it was discovered I was borderline myxedemic and experiencing Takotsubo cardiomyopathy. Of course, that took awhile to nail down with specialist referrals, etc. My job was toast. They understandably needed to replace me. My brain was mush being so deeply hypothyroid and I couldn't adequately explain myself to management as a new nurse with that as my life frame. I felt so guilty because they had just trained me and they really drove home how much they invest in a new nurse. I was just so physically/ emotionally wiped out from life stress that my body didn't handle the night nurse schedule, new nurse stress, and that swap back to day shift for my kids' sake. I think I passed out behind that wheel. The event changed my life. I stayed away from bedside & am just now looking to return 9 years later. I love nursing, but it can be brutal.
Ultimately, my heart just aches for any nurse going through the wringer of non-24 as well as the families impacted by this utter tragedy.
Specializes in Oncology, ID, Hepatology, Occy Health.
The issue here I believe is not the 12 hour shift but the fact that it was after a night shift. Working nights is not nomal and the fatigue you experience is different to a typical end of the day tiredness when you work days.
An ex-colleague of mine caused an accident after a night shift and 2 years later is still in physical re-education. Your reflexes just aren't the same.
Facilities that are anti night nurses having a nap should review their policies. If a unit is covered with awakened nurses there's no crime in taking turns to have a nap. I read once that a sleep cycle is 17 minutes long, hence even just a 20 minute nap will make you feel refreshed and make a difference. And yes, you MUST get adequate sleep in between shifts. Working nights for child care in the day is a complete no-no, as is maintaning a 9-5 job in between night shifts (I've known both and yes, they were both dangerous nurses). If you can't sleep in the day, don't take a night post.
I work nights and I used to cycle to and from work. One morning I narrowly missed being crushed by a lorry. Now I keep the bike for leisuire cycling on days off only. I'm lucky to live just half an hour's walk away through a lovely park, so I walk. If I'm really tired I get the bus. I realise that in the US you don't have the same levels of public transport, especially in rural areas, but if public transport is an option that should really be the preferred choice of any night nurse. Not always possible I know.
I also work in a hospital where I'm never off late, or extremely rarely. This should be an absolute priority for all managers. If your nurses are consistently staying late then there's a serious management problem - sort it!
Facilities that are anti night nurses having a nap should review their policies. If a unit is covered with awakened nurses there's no crime in taking turns to have a nap. I read once that a sleep cycle is 17 minutes long, hence even just a 20 minute nap will make you feel refreshed and make a difference. And yes, you MUST get adequate sleep in between shifts. Working nights for child care in the day is a complete no-no, as is maintaning a 9-5 job in between night shifts (I've known both and yes, they were both dangerous nurses). If you can't sleep in the day, don't take a night post.
I work nights and I used to cycle to and from work. One morning I narrowly missed being crushed by a lorry.
I totally agree that night shift is a different beast for fatigue. Are you able to take naps at your facility? I have never heard of that for night nurses in the US. Typically, everyone who doesn't smoke stays on the unit at all times, even if taking a break. No one naps, as lovely as that sounds. Sorry to hear about your close call with the lorry! Your walk to work through the park sounds idyllic.
Specializes in Oncology, ID, Hepatology, Occy Health.
IntegrativeRN said:
I have never heard of that for night nurses in the US. Typically, everyone who doesn't smoke stays on the unit at all times, even if taking a break.
It is actutally entrenched in French law that night workers should a) receive a free meal on duty and b) workload permitting be allowed some time to rest, even though we're paid the whole 12 hours. So it's official.
When I worked in the UK it was more unofficial. You got an unpaid 1 hour break in which most people unofficially had a nap - theoretically not allowed but usually night managers turned a blind eye, since they had a sleep themelves, and being an unpaid hour it was technically your own time.
I find the working life here in France so much more civilised and worker-friendly to when I worked in the UK. Obviously we don't all sleep together at the same time. We take turns one at a time in the recliner that's actually provided for night staff. We're sensible and negotiate amongst ourselves how long it's reasonble to nap for according to the workload. I like that we're not infantilised by management. They treat us like adults and in return, we don't abuse it. We're reasonable. If something happens with one of my patients and colleagues can't sort it, of course they'll wake me. If there are routine antiobiotics, chemo, whatever, we arrange it so that we're awake for our own routine care, or cover each other.
I'm 61 now and while I generally cope well with nights, even just half an hour's nap really refreshes me and sets me up for the morning work. I feel safer administering meds and taking blood etc. than if I've been awake for 12 hours straight. It really is a game changer, and I'm sure it makes a difference to those who drive home.
IntegrativeRN
13 Posts
This story hits home for me. I totaled my vehicle on the way home from my 3rd 14 hour shift, because as a new nurse and night RN, I found most days were 14's, not 12's. I would go in early to read up and get my footing on my cardiac patients and in-services/ delays with the oncoming, would push me beyond 12 regularly. I was a single mom (recent military widow) and I couldn't keep the same schedule on off days because kids are day dwellers. I crossed a lane of traffic 10 minutes from my house (I thank God every day there was no one in that lane), slammed into a concrete culvert in a ditch, and woke to utter shock, bruised but otherwise unscathed. At the time I thought I fell asleep, but I now question that. A few weeks later, I felt like I was in a stupor. I was flagged by occupational health at my birthday check-up for MRSA on my knee and told to go home. My immune system was pitching a fit and within month it was discovered I was borderline myxedemic and experiencing Takotsubo cardiomyopathy. Of course, that took awhile to nail down with specialist referrals, etc. My job was toast. They understandably needed to replace me. My brain was mush being so deeply hypothyroid and I couldn't adequately explain myself to management as a new nurse with that as my life frame. I felt so guilty because they had just trained me and they really drove home how much they invest in a new nurse. I was just so physically/ emotionally wiped out from life stress that my body didn't handle the night nurse schedule, new nurse stress, and that swap back to day shift for my kids' sake. I think I passed out behind that wheel. The event changed my life. I stayed away from bedside & am just now looking to return 9 years later. I love nursing, but it can be brutal.
Ultimately, my heart just aches for any nurse going through the wringer of non-24 as well as the families impacted by this utter tragedy.