I have a theory about what wasn't right with her before she disappeared. Maura Murray was crashing and burning for some time before the actual car crash and her disappearance. I believe she did die very soon after the crash, likely due to hypothermia or another outdoor related accidental death.
Regarding WHY she may have left like she did:
Like all student nurses, Maura knew there is a code of ethics and conduct for both nursing students and registered nurses with licenses.
Students are and have always been monitored very carefully by their professors and clinical instructors, because the nursing programs are rated separately from the college's accreditation and standing. A pass rate on the licensing exam after graduation, called the NCLEX- RN of at least 90% is considered adequate, and the best schools have a consistent yearly average passing rate of around 98%.This rate is very important to the Dean Of Nurses for each college's nursing program as the programs for nurses are professionally rated by an outside national team which receives all of the NCLEX-RN scores for all accredited nursing schools annually and compiles the data independently. The data for each nursing program is either stated online or it's available from the professional group which does the rating ( sorry, but they recently changed names and I do not have the current name at hand).It's crucial for the nurse graduate and the nursing school to be known as producing top quality graduates, excellent nurses in practice, and for the nursing school to maintain an excellent standing with their annual national rating after the students take and pass or fail the NCLEX-RN exam. The term " passing rate" applies to the actual national exam, the NCLEX- RN, which is taken by graduate nurses in order to be licensed.. ( NCLEX stands for National Council Licensure Examination) and being qualified to sit for the exam, taking it, and passing is the only way for a graduate student to become an RN.
I believe, personally, from my long career as a registered nurse in a very competitive nursing program at a great SEC college, that Maura thought, or maybe already knew she had messed up to the point of expulsion from her nursing program. It hadn't already happened, as far as we know, but this girl, from all accounts, was way too messed up emotionally, and with alcohol abuse, ( as crashing 2 cars in a short period of time while impaired and the petty thefts she was starting to engage in through very foolish means easily detected ( not that there's a smart way), and the alcohol in her car are, when put together, signs of alcohol abuse) to continue her studies, clinical hands on care, to graduate and become a registered nurse at that time. She could have dropped out for personal reasons, and re-registered after she had dealt with her problems ( with a letter of explanation and extra references), but I've never read any indication that she wanted any changes in these problem areas of her young life.
Her personal problems would be a valid urgent reason to panic and perhaps leave, if being a nurse was her true calling and passion. I don't know if it was, but if not, she'd likely already reached that conclusion as well. I've never seen the issue of " wanting to be a nurse" addressed, just that she was in a nursing program.
Maybe her despair was as great as the percentage of students who were kicked out of my class year after year. I don't know. Some of the people who failed in my class were devastated, and some never found any other career. They only wanted to be nurses.
I don't think she had concrete plans about doing anything else with her life when she packed and took off, just wanted to escape from the pressure, and maybe to go drink to forget for a while, and maybe finish falling apart. And, maybe she did just that on her own terms, in her own way. It's so sad that she didn't get help from school counselors or student advisors, or an outside source of professional help.
. Respectfully, IMO
