Headscratchers / Halloween II (1981)

• Why is the hospital so understaffed? With how big the town of Haddenfield is portrayed and with the notable size of the hospital, it seems rather odd that you have at least three nurses pulling double duty (including two nurses that appear to work Inpatient and Mrs. Alves who seems to run the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit portion of the hospital, all working in the ER as well) and, just as odd, one security guard on duty. Typically, there'd be more than the number of medical staff seen in the film not only during a night shift, but during a night shift and falling on a holiday no less. And each department being covered by individual teams of staff (meaning Mrs. Alves would be handling NICU while the staff in the ER are handling Laurie's injuries). Is this how hospitals typically worked in a town the size of Haddenfield circa 1978 or was this just dramatic license by Carpenter and Hill to keep not only the cost of hiring additional actors down, but to make the numbers easier for Michael to kill?
  • The tiny staff size was more than likely dramatic license as patients alone typically have around four staff members dedicated to them, so the hospital is criminally understaffed.