Death of Jail Inmate, Big Settlement

Published

I see where the death of Emily Rice in a Denver jail has been settled. She was a car crash victim, accused of DWI. Hurt, apparently, in the crash but cleared by a hospital where she was seen after arrest.

Her cries for help in jail, after being seen in ER and cleared, and the cries of other inmates at the jail, went unheeded, it is alleged, by both CO's and nurses. Too few details are given for us to be able to decide what really happened but it is a sad and serious story, evokes lots of thoughts and feelings.

What do you do when an inmate c/o pain, distress after being cleared by ER or your doctors?

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Specializes in corrections, legal, med/surg, ICU,CCU,.

Jail intake nurses frequently deal with patients who have been involved in accidents or altercations. The RN is the first line of defense in intake. Those nurses who work a regular position in intake must possess excellent assessment skills. ER clearance does not mean a patient is stable. Any inmate who may have a significant injury at the time of arrest needs to be closely evaluated by the nurse. If there are any indications the patient is not stable then the nurse needs to refuse the patient and return him/her to the emergency room via appropriate transport. Once accepted into the jail inmates who are voicing complaints require assessment. My advice to my staff is never to ignore something unless you are sure it is nothing. This means it is the duty of the nurse to adequately assess the patient. If the patient is symptomatic then appropriate action needs to be taken. If the nurse feels the patient needs further care and is denied permission to send the patient out it is the obligation of the nurse to go up the chain of command in an effort to obtain care for the patient. I personally have called our medical director numerous times in the middle of the night when there is a dispute. The nurse also needs to clearly document each encounter and actions taken. Failure to do so could have dire consequences for both the patient and nurse.

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.

Link to story: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/16430335/detail.html

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Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg, Peds, ICU, Tele.

Wow, it looks like not only negligence but a big cover up by jail officials. Somebody tampered with the surveillance video, which went black for the 64 seconds before the woman collapsed.

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Specializes in corrections, legal, med/surg, ICU,CCU,.

All of us in corrections need to read this article and take heed. I have cases much worse on my desk currently. A four million dollar settlement for deliberate indifference sends a clear statement that the court means to punish those responsible.

Corrections is a speciality which is a minefield of potential lawsuits. We serve a population who are usually poor, uneducated and who often abuse drugs or alcohol, and who are at risk for injury due to the lifestyle they lead. It is unfortunate that the public's preception of the correctional nurse is that of a nurse who can't make it in the real world so signs up to work in a facility where no one cares about sub-standard performance.

This perception is far from the truth because there are many, many correctional nurses, doctors and medical adminstrations who have fought for years to raise the standards of care nationwide. It is cases like this one that give our profession a black eye.

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This was a horrible thing to happen.

I'm not sure everyone's opionin is correct here. First, we only have one side of the story, which is what the media portrayed. They don't even have the correct facility listed. We do not have the nurses veiw.

If you read the article doesn't there seem to be a slant.

If a survalliance camera only records movement, maybe there was no movement for the "64" sec. in question. They also seemed to have misssed the facility is N.C.C.H.C. Certified. There is no listing of the mortilaty rate.

I believe this could happen at any facility. No matter how many people are screened there are still deaths. As nurses I think we should wait for all the facts before passing judgement.

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Specializes in corrections, legal, med/surg, ICU,CCU,.

I am very pro NCCHC. But negligence is negligence. I work triage and we often see patients post MVA. Some have been cleared by trauma centers and in a number of cases those "cleared" patients have had life threatening injuries. Just the other night it was a patient with a pneumo-thorax. It is up to the nurse in triage to insure that the inmate has received a proper evaluation in the ER. We should know what the standard of care is because often inmate patients receive less than the standard of care because they are inmates. If a patient has not been properly worked up, then they should be refused. I have a number of cases where patients were accepted for booking who should have been refused. These cases have resulted in litigation. That being said sometimes there is no way a nurse can anticipate a bad outcome. While it may not seem fair, we are expected to pick up and act on subtle signs of trouble which is why I think it is important to practice defensively.

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Old news is no news.. I suppose.. I am the mother of Emily Rice, and am a nurse, and was when she died.. The City and County of Denver did a 'great' job of covering, I could not even breathe until recently, no vitals were ever taken past admission, no vitals taken during her bleedout during jail stay, I think you are all safe, because I trust that no one on this site would do that, she died so painfully and needlessly. Cheers to those of us that can make a difference, unlike those that 'cared' for Emily.

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Specializes in L&D.

Susrice-I am so sorry for the loss of your daughter. I cannot even imagine the pain that her death causes, especially to know she died in this manner.

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Specializes in Case Management.
Old news is no news.. I suppose.. I am the mother of Emily Rice, and am a nurse, and was when she died.. The City and County of Denver did a 'great' job of covering, I could not even breathe until recently, no vitals were ever taken past admission, no vitals taken during her bleedout during jail stay, I think you are all safe, because I trust that no one on this site would do that, she died so painfully and needlessly. Cheers to those of us that can make a difference, unlike those that 'cared' for Emily.

I am very sorry for your loss. She should never have died. Hopefully the changes that are made will assure that this never happens a again to another person. She was a beautiful young woman. What a senseless tragedy.

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Specializes in ER.

? HUmm Crystalworn- I've been a nurse for 20 yrs, and I've never encountered the perception or commewnts that nurses who work in corrections are there because they couldn't "Hack it."- IMHO, as an ED nurse, I see a fair amount of the same people, and I'd say you Guys/Gals are in general a pretty decent bunch! Keep up the good work.

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Specializes in ICU.

I am so sorry for your loss, susrice. I got angry just reading this article. So senseless and sad.

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