Sean, as bad as that is-think about Doctors during their residency having to make medical decisions that are in the middle of a 48 hour shift...would you want an ER resident making a life or death decsion about you or your kid when they are 40 hours into a 48 hour on-call?

I know that comparing Doctors and nurses is like comparing oranges to apples (or maybe Dogs and Cats?), but it is a real concern-to say nothing of how many night nurses who have died in MVA's driving home after a night shift.(I had a fender bender after dosing off at the wheel when I was coming home from a night shift in Chicago back in the early 90's.)

Steve - yep, sleep deprivation is nothing to mess with. Especially after you suffer through it a couple times. Can be down right scary.