Family claims hospital's staff shortage responsible for fatal crash

3 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.
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Very sad and tragic. Many of us nurses know how hard it is to stay alert after working the overnight shift. I wonder how this case will play out. Will they say the nurse knew the risk involved with working the overnight shift, thus the hospital isn't liable? I'm almost certain no one will win in this case though. I pray the family heals in due time...so sad.

they probably won't win, but defending it WILL cost the hospital some money and bad PR. Quote from JesusKeepMeVery sad and tragic. Many of us nurses know how hard it is to stay alert after working the overnight shift. I wonder how this case will play out. Will they say the nurse knew the risk involved with working the overnight shift, thus the hospital isn't liable? I'm almost certain no one will win in this case though. I pray the family heals in due time...so sad.

It won't matter but I had to respond.....Hospitals are willfully, purposefully, and knowingly shorting nurses on the floor requiring them to make unsafe choices and take unsafe patient loads. How can a hospital in good conscience make a worker up all night stay for mandatory meeting and classes knowing perfectly well what the consequences will be......If the nurses say no.... their jobs, in a tight market (there is NO NURSING SHORTAGE), are at risk. The behavior is unconscionable. They should be held responsible.

I can't believe (well, yes, I guess I can) that most people are like, "welp, yeah, being a nurse is hard and all, but PERSONAL RESPONSIBILTY..." Try working a 13 hour overnight with no lunch one time. I know I'm not telling y'all anything you don't know.This is laughable and also super sad. And Esme hit it right on the head...nothing peeves me more on night shift than getting scheduled for education after my 3rd night in a row.

I think that the family are absolutely correct. However, I don't think it will make it through a court of law. The hospital will probably do some kind of education about not driving when tired. They will demand that nurses take their breaks without providing any extra staff or way for nurses to do so safely. And the hospital will continue to make a bigger profit this year over last year because that is the only thing that matters to them.

There but for the grace of G-d go I. What a sobering photo. So many time I nodded off on my way home from work, had to pull over to nap on my 25-minute drive home. 25 MINUTE DRIVE. I feel for her family.

Quote from kloneThere but for the grace of G-d go I. What a sobering photo. So many time I nodded off on my way home from work, had to pull over to nap on my 25-minute drive home. 25 MINUTE DRIVE. I feel for her family.

In the complaint, the family claims that the hospital cancelled her (their?) insurance coverage the day after she died.

Quote from TaggIn the complaint, the family claims that the hospital cancelled her (their?) insurance coverage the day after she died.

It's probably par for the course for an employer to cancel a deceased employee's insurance but it will appear callous to the jury.

I hope the family wins, especially when they were so callous to cancel her health insurance like that! It might make a difference and hospitals may make more of an effort to hire more staff in the wake of this lawsuit and all the bad publicity. I have heard of nurses dying after working night shift from falling asleep, but never knew of one personally. I'm a night person and live close to work so I've never had any problems driving, but I know coworkers that have trouble with falling asleep, even that nap at work at times or get home and end up sleeping in the car because they are too tired to get out of the car! If I'm mandated to 16 hours you can bet I won't be coming in that night! I also make sure I get enough sleep, take that very seriously, some night shift people skip sleep and that can be dangerous! I knew a nurse that lived on 3-4 hours of sleep and that is just not safe, also bad for your health. Too many nurses allow themselves to be overworked because they don't want to let anyone down and live to please others. Just say no! You are not required to work above your FTE and if you are mandated you can refuse and if forced then at least call in that night! We've been short staffed and amazingly people are actually refusing to be mandated. Guess what mgmt finds someone else to staff the floor! The world doesn't end and proper arrangements are made! Stand up for yourself; your life and safety may be at stake!PS I just looked it up on AARP and they said the spouse and family should still qualify for COBRA even though she died so I think the hospital is at fault for cancelling her insurance like that!

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.