Mom suing nurse after suffocation accident

[MunoRN]

This Mother Is Suing a Hospital for Millions After She Accidentally Killed Her Son

A mother in Oregon is suing Portland Adventist Medical Center for $8.6 million after she accidentally smothered her four-day-old baby in a hospital bed.

Monica Thompson says that, a few days after her son Jacob was born in August 2012, the hospital put her newborn in bed with her so she could breastfeed him. But Thompson says in the lawsuit that the baby was put there in the middle of the night, while she was heavily medicated. Thompson drifted off, and when she woke up, Jacob was unresponsive...

Thompson, who is suing both the hospital and the individual nurse involved in the incident, said she was still drowsy and groggy” from her medication when she realized her son was not moving, her lawsuit states. The suit says Thompson called for a nurse, and when none came, she carried her son to the hallway and frantically yelled for help.”

[bagladyrn, RN]

Ok your thought process is immature. Typically, when they first file, they are in negotiation for years before they are taken to court and only if a settlement is not reached. So I can confidently assume this is what happened.

I think ultimately the nurse may be held liable. I'm not even an OB nurse but we know sleeping in bed with infants is not safe. If the mother had a complicated birth and a c-section and was heavily medicated, then yes, the nurses role would have been to stay with the infant until feeding was complete and remove the infant from the bed. I just hope she documented, "patient alert and oriented and requested to keep baby in bed" or something of that nature. But I can see a jury or even an expert witness calling this gross negligence. I do not, however, see her getting her license revoked.

And who do you think is taking care of her other 3 couplets (6 patients) while she is in that room for the whole feeding?

By the way, in almost every hospital I've worked at (many as a traveler) parents sign a sheet which has been discussed with them agreeing that they will not sleep with the baby in the bed.

[klone, MSN, RN]

I think ultimately the nurse may be held liable. I'm not even an OB nurse but we know sleeping in bed with infants is not safe. .

People keep saying this. The nurse did not bring the baby to the mom to SLEEP. She brought the baby to the mom to BREASTFEED. I'm quite certain that that hospital, like every other hospital, provides very explicit instructions to women/parents about why it's unsafe to cosleep with their newborns.

[AnnoyedNurse]

I would LOVE to hear more about this. I am highly suspect of the veracity of any story about a hospital that has a mandate against formula. It just doesn't happen. Not in the US (and I would venture to guess, not anywhere). I call BS.

How do the nurses/parents feed the baby in the case of a woman who has no breasts (I've seen it, they were burnt off in a housefire when she was a teen), or the woman who is on medication that's contraindicated, or adoptive parents, or delayed lactogenesis and the baby has lost 10% of their birthweight? Or...she JUST DOESN'T WANT TO BREASTFEED?

Klone- a cult like mentality exists in healthcare discouraging formula feeding. I even did a project for my BSN and found that this cult like mentality is very prevalent among paediatricians and hospital administrations. In their eyes, it's only acceptable to formula feed only ifthe mother cannot breast feed due to being breast less, severely sick and on dangerous meds etc.

[AnnoyedNurse]

And who do you think is taking care of her other 3 couplets (6 patients) while she is in that room for the whole feeding?

By the way, in almost every hospital I've worked at (many as a traveler) parents sign a sheet which has been discussed with them agreeing that they will not sleep with the baby in the bed.

But isn't this the dilemma in nursing? Who watches our other patients while we provide much needed care to one of our patients? I experience this in the ICU all the time. I am provided wound care on a patient who is vented and my other patient has an EVD and he overdrains while I am in my other patients room. Should I be held liable for this? If I must keep my eyes on this patient 24 hours a day, then should this patient not be 1:1.

Back to this specific situation- so if the mother is safe enough she does not need to be observed. But if she is on pain meds and ambien, she is not safe and should be observed. This is not the usual situation mind you so the appropriate thing to do is to let your charge nurse know that you have to be in this room for this reason.

But also, I think a lot of nurses do not realise the power of ambien. The other night my nurse friend got an order of ambien to give her patient at 4am. She was running to the Pyxis to grab the Med and I asked "isn't it too late to give ambien? She can become delirious and crazy without a full nights sleep." She still gave the ambien.

In our mother baby story here- the first problem is why are we waking the mother up once she has taken ambien? Read the label on ambien and then come in the defence of the nurse.

It is completely permissible to formula feed if the mother is altered even if it's against the mother's wishes. The infant is under our care.

[Yediah71]

3-5 years is how long it takes for lawsuits to get filed, deposed, and publicly reported before going to trial.

Most lawsuits are never heard about because they settle way before it gets to this phase. She's definitely not been swayed from digging in and going to trial up until now. That could still change.

Witness our timely legal system.

[OrganizedChaos, LVN]

The *nurses* were pushed to encourage breastfeeding, not that the new moms were pushed or forced to breastfeed. I'm sorry nobody even mentioned it to you - that is a failing on the part of the unit where you gave birth.

If the nurses were pushed to push breast feeding, then wouldn't they then push breastfeeding on the new moms?

But why? I was on medication that is contraindicated for breast feeding. I mentioned that in my post.

If you're curious I took 300mg Topamax BID & 150 mg Zoloft QD, at the time I had both of my sons. Clearly not safe to breastfeed while taking & the nurses & doctors knew this.

[AnnoyedNurse]

If the nurses were pushed to push breast feeding, then wouldn't they then push breastfeeding on the new moms?

But why? I was on medication that is contraindicated for breast feeding. I mentioned that in my post.

If you're curious I took 300mg Topamax BID & 150 mg Zoloft QD, at the time I had both of my sons. Clearly not safe to breastfeed while taking & the nurses & doctors knew this.

In your case there is a clear contraindication. However, the breastfeeding debate is focused on moms without any medical contraindications still choosing to formula feed over breast feeding. I would not be able to properly articulate this in one post, but in most if not all BSN programs, the benefits and risks of both breast feeding and formula feeding is fully analysed. Students are also asked to respond to a scenario where the mother is choosing to bottle feed. Breast feeding is encouraged for many reasons: increases baby immunity, less sick time for baby, less postpartum pain, losing pregnancy weight faster, increased cognition for the baby later in life etc.

Most hospitals, doctors, and nurses discourage formula feeding in a cult like manner. I have heard statements such as, "if they want to formula feed, then insurance shouldn't cover their baby getting sick all the time." For health systems it is about reducing cost. Studies suggest breastfed babies are sick less often and have higher immunity healthfulness than formula fed babies. For mother's it's about autonomy. Breast feeding may not be possible in their career oriented life. Or she simply cannot tolerate the sensation of breastfeeding. I support whatever the mother wants as long as the baby is receiving adequate nutrition.

Recently, I had a coworker in our icu who would Pino milk at work during every moment she had. She was exhausted, tired, but she made it happen. She would even feel guilty if she took a break instead of pumping milk. With that said, it's up to her how she wants to provide nutrition to her baby.

Doctors, nurses, paediatric nursing association all push nurses to push breast feeding. In all likelihood, this nurse probably believed that breast feeding even though mom is altered is a better alternative than formula feeding.

However, if the nurse offered to formula feed but this mother wanted to exclusively breast feed, she should have been told that if she is altered, she is not in the position to breast feed her child. It should have also been explained to her that it is for the safety of her child. If she demanded it, as a nurse, I would call the doctor. Explain my concerns. If the attending was okay with it, I would allow the mom to feed the baby and document like crazy. Even then, the nurse shohkd have stayed at the bedside until feeding was complete.

I don't blame this nurse, however. She probably felt the baby would be safe and the mother was alert enough. However, dangers things do happen with ambien and that is precisely why it should not be prescribed in hospitals. Most likely and expert witness and jury will find fault with this nurse as they will explain gross negligence. In my opinion, there is some negligence that occurred here, but whether or not it was gross or against standard of practice is what is in question and only other post-partum nurses can answer this. But like I said, the jury and a witness paid by the plaintiff will cite gross negligence for sure.

[bagladyrn, RN]

But isn't this the dilemma in nursing? Who watches our other patients while we provide much needed care to one of our patients? I experience this in the ICU all the time. I am provided wound care on a patient who is vented and my other patient has an EVD and he overdrains while I am in my other patients room. Should I be held liable for this? If I must keep my eyes on this patient 24 hours a day, then should this patient not be 1:1.

Back to this specific situation- so if the mother is safe enough she does not need to be observed. But if she is on pain meds and ambien, she is not safe and should be observed. This is not the usual situation mind you so the appropriate thing to do is to let your charge nurse know that you have to be in this room for this reason.

But also, I think a lot of nurses do not realise the power of ambien. The other night my nurse friend got an order of ambien to give her patient at 4am. She was running to the Pyxis to grab the Med and I asked "isn't it too late to give ambien? She can become delirious and crazy without a full nights sleep." She still gave the ambien.

In our mother baby story here- the first problem is why are we waking the mother up once she has taken ambien? Read the label on ambien and then come in the defence of the nurse.

It is completely permissible to formula feed if the mother is altered even if it's against the mother's wishes. The infant is under our care.

No it is not "permissible" to formula feed a breastfed infant without the mother's permission. In fact at some hospitals one must call the pediatrician for an order any time a breastfed infant is given formula, even at the mothers request. In some the formula is kept locked in the med room.

[AnnoyedNurse]

No it is not "permissible" to formula feed a breastfed infant without the mother's permission. In fact at some hospitals one must call the pediatrician for an order any time a breastfed infant is given formula, even at the mothers request. In some the formula is kept locked in the med room.

All nutrition whether for an adult or infant requires a doctor's order. So yes it is permissible granted there is a doctor's order. Most likely, this nurse did not call the doctor to get an order to feed the infant. You, however, are missing the entire point. The nurse has a role to keep her adult patient pain free and her newborn patient safe during the feeding. A patient on ambien should not be in the bed with an infant. End of story.

[Emergent, RN]

I doubt if guidelines and say that we must keep patients "pain free". That's what got us into the opiate crisis.

Overall as a culture, I think we need to encourage a little more toughness in our population. Pain medicine has its place, but the attitude that no one should have any pain has not helped us overall.

If a mother can't tolerate pain, can't sleep, has trouble adjusting to a new born, she needs help. If she must take narcotics and sleeping aids, she must be told that the baby needs to go to the nursery. She can have 15 minutes to nurse and then somebody should pick up the baby. That would've most likely avoided the problem that we are discussing.

[klone, MSN, RN]

Klone- a cult like mentality exists in healthcare discouraging formula feeding. I even did a project for my BSN and found that this cult like mentality is very prevalent among paediatricians and hospital administrations. In their eyes, it's only acceptable to formula feed only ifthe mother cannot breast feed due to being breast less, severely sick and on dangerous meds etc.

I am a board-certified lactation consultant. This is my bread and butter, so to speak. And I can assure you that there is no systemic cult-like mentality forcing women to breastfeed. There may be individual overzealous nurses, or institutions that do not follow the spirit of the BFHI.

It *is* important to educate expectant moms on why breastfeeding is incredibly important to infant health. That is not a cult. That's science.

[klone, MSN, RN]

If the nurses were pushed to push breast feeding, then wouldn't they then push breastfeeding on the new moms?

They're not pushed to push breastfeeding. They're pushed to ENCOURAGE breastfeeding. Meaning - one of the expected duties of the nurses is to encourage it. As they should encourage all other positive health maintenance activities.