another nurse charged w/ manslaughter

[tonchitoRN]

I live in Puerto Rico and I just heard on the news last night about a nurse who is being charged with manslaughter due to a medication error. I have read of several of these cases on the boards and I find this to be a very disturbing trend. Now we all know med errors are dangerous and need to be taken seriously but should one be deemed a murderer if it happens. In my opinion the answer is no. It should be dealt with by the board of regulations and punishment should be handled by them. Jail time should not be an option. I for one will stop doing patient care if this trend continues. We put our lives on the line for patients, we put our licenses on the line for patients and now the courts want to put us in jail? Not on your life will I put myself in that kind of risk. Any opinions?

[frann]

Why would infusing tpn at 17 cc/hr kill the baby? Was it a premie?

2 month olds normally take at least 2 oz. hr. And why would pharmacy mix up a whole bag of tpn-would need at least a 250 cc bag to last a whole day, whereas a 17ccbag would only be 17 cc.

something doesn't make sense here?

[sucevicd]

I think that nurses don't stick up for themselves together enough, or at all. We should look for example towards physicians, they protected their behinds well (excuse my language).

[markdanurse]

Yes! I have seen physicians mess up and kill people! So when a physician does this, it is a slap on the hand. When a nurse does this, it is license revocation, loss of licensure, and prison! What is wrong with this picture? The spirit of the law is not being followed, only the letter of the law... this means that the persons prosecuting this case are low level thinkers and that the administration of justice is not fair. This should NOT happen! Nurses are here to help people, not kill them! And society knows this and allows it to happen!!! This makes me sick. This trend has got to stop! That's all I have to say!

[mattsmom81]

You know, Mark, you make a good point. I never thought about needing malpractice insurance until just recently with all the suits and prosecution of nurses going on today. We'd best load up on it and do what the docs do----settle out of court with the so- called injured party with our insurance company picking up the tab. That in return for immunity from prosecution somehow (somehow only the NURSE gets prosecuted and punished in these cases I notice, never the doc or pharmacist) I guess we gotta do what the docs do and find us a fall guy so we can get off scott free if we make an error...

With all the laws regulating nurses and all the court decisions making nurses accountable for catching docs mistakes (as well as everyone elses) one would think WE were the higher profession here instead of just the lowly nurse... something seems backwards in this picture to me too!

[Aide]

Voluntary manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter. Wouldn't this be considered a cival matter. All states have there own set of criminal laws. Some are common law and others are penal codes. I am not a lawyer but I beleive in MI manslaughter one is about the same as second degree murder. That a jury can find a defendent guilty of manslaughter if they find high emotion or provocation. This may be old school manslaughter law but is how we learned it. Again all states are different and nursing law is probably a whole different ball game. Neglect cases and abandomment cases are usually cival matters. How is this case different from wrongful death cases it seems to me that would be a cival matter. I think they scare you with threats more than you realize. There are some lawyers on this cite I invite them to set me straight if I need it. I am only a student and I am in the process of learning all this law stuff.

[Aide]

Civil