Can A Nurse Be Worked To Death?
Elizabeth Jasper, 38, was killed when her car veered off the road, jumped an embankment and struck a tree. She may have fallen asleep while driving. Jasper had been a RN in the bone marrow transplant unit at the Jewish Hospital of Cincinnati for 13 years. Jasper’s family has filed a lawsuit, alleging that Elizabeth’s actual working hours regularly and significantly exceeded her usual 12 hour shifts daily. The lawsuit claimed Mrs. Jasper and a few other nurses were often asked or required to work through breaks, work extra shifts, and stay late after their shifts had ended because they were qualified to care for patients undergoing dialysis. The result, nurses often worked while exhausted and hungry. This case advocates that the hospital administration was well aware of the shortage in staffing, yet, made no attempt in improving, therefore, the suit alleges, Elizabeth Jasper’s death was “directly and proximately caused by the wrongful acts and conduct of all defendants,” and they “owed a duty to their employee, Mrs. Jasper, to take reasonable precautions for her safety by abstaining from deliberate practices that placed her in a position of unjustifiably high risk.”
During Elizabeth’s last shift she reportedly complained to her coworker that she was “really stressed” and “hadn’t eaten” during the shift. Sleep deprivation is a confirmed cause of traffic accidents. In fact, in November 2010, a study by the American Automobile Association estimated that one out of every, malpractice, education, and legislation advocacy, further affirmed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health showed that more drivers are killed from falling asleep at the wheel than from drug use and alcohol combined. “Most of the focus on tired nurses has revolved around patient safety,” said Brous, “and less so on the nurse’s safety.” But in terms of who’s responsible for an accident whether employer or employee, the answer could be “both,”...