Nurse Charged With Homicide

Nurses General Nursing

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  1. Should Radonda Vaught, the nurse who gave a lethal dose of Vecuronium to patient at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, be charged with reckless homicide?

    • 395
      She should not have been charged
    • 128
      She deserved to be charged

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Radonda Vaught, a 35 year old nurse who worked at the University of Medical Center, has been indicted on charges of reckless homicide. Read Nurse Gives Lethal Dose of Vecuronium

Radonda is the nurse who mistakenly gave Vecuronium (a paralytic) to a patient instead of Versed. The patient died.

3 minutes ago, Sour Lemon said:

If the nurse showed up drunk for work that day and did everything wrong, you'd have a good comparison. If she ducked into the bathroom between patients and got high because she was stressed you'd also have a point. Those things didn't happen.
Let's make the pilot inattentive and distracted instead of drunk. That makes more sense.

Let's say the perfectly sober but distracted pilot just didn't do any of the safety checks before taking off!

I mean, after all... He is under so much pressure to be on time!

4 minutes ago, mtmkjr said:

Let's say the perfectly sober but distracted pilot just didn't do any of the safety checks before taking off!

I mean, after all... He is under so much pressure to be on time!

That's a little better. It could probably be expanded by somebody, but I have very little idea what pressures and distractions pilots face ...or how easily "able" they are to make an error.

1 Votes
Specializes in ED, ICU, Prehospital.
1 hour ago, nursebert said:

I actually faced this situation a few weeks ago. The patient was on a tele unit with altered mental status and a neurologic condition. The patient was ordered for MRI of the brain and IV ativan premed was ordered. I told the doctor that it was a safety issue to allow the patient to receive ativan and not be monitored during the procedure. I stated that I was not able to go with the patient. We do not have resource nurses. The MRI was then cancelled and ironically I read about this case the next day.

Ok. So. Being in both of these modalities at points of my life...

PO ativan is very different than IV ativan. Think through the mechanism. The bioavailability of any PO medication is what---20% at it's best?

So you give the same dose, .5 mg of lorazipam PO to one patient and .5mg IV to a second. If all other factors are the same, mental status, renal function, etc...the pt who was given PO ativan has a fractional dosage at best, and it takes half an hour to kick in. Metabolism is at work here, so are gastric juices, absorption ability...you see my meaning?

IV is directly and immediately available. Bam. You get the .5mg and you are dosed. Your respiratory and cardiovascular systems are immediately effected, your neuro status is immediately effected.

Versed was routinely used in MRI for claustrophobia back in the day. 2mg and a pulse ox is all there was. MRI monitors are expensive and very temperamental, however---you should ask your techs if they have what's called "gating" capability on their system. They use this for body scans where the sequences are triggered by the patient's breathing. It is hooked directly to the magnet and into the software. You can, if in a pinch, "monitor" the pt's heart rate this way. I don't recommend it, but it can be done.

IV medications are extremely dangerous, no matter what drug you are administering. There is no buffer. The patient gets it right between the eyes. You had better be damned sure you are giving what you want, at the dose you want, .....oh yeah

THE FIVE RIGHTS OF MEDICATION ADMINISTRATION.

2 Votes
Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.
On 2/6/2019 at 5:56 PM, Truth66 said:

the Worker's Compensation Board (WCB) insisted that I be at work and they put in writing that I was to do light medication passes.

What on earth is a "light medication pass"? Whatever they thought it meant...nope.

3 Votes
Specializes in Med/surg/ortho.
On 2/5/2019 at 8:11 PM, Emergent said:

I disagree with these changes. This was a tragedy, a horrible mistake. Take away her nursing license but don't destroy her life.

The family has said that the woman would have forgiven her.

Taking away her nursing license most definitely would destroy her life, make no mistake about that.

1 hour ago, Susie2310 said:

Professional nurses and professional airline pilots both have in common that they are trained in safety methods in their respective fields and have a professional and legal duty to the public by virtue of their licensure.

I agree but I want my private space and locking cockpit door and second set of eyes for those times when what I'm doing has the potential to kill somebody. And rules for the people I'm serving.... ? If the conditions aren't just right...you.will.wait. If one of my customers has trouble while I'm engaged in my very serious endeavor, no problem, the hospital operator can put out a call for any kind souls who want to help out. ?

I actually like that a lot better than the idea that I can accomplish my work the same way they do at a car manufacturing plant!

Or a Disney amusement park!

4 Votes
Specializes in ED, ICU, Prehospital.
1 minute ago, Julius Seizure said:

What on earth is a "light medication pass"? Whatever they thought it meant...nope.

IKR? I worked at a hospital, big big big name (think basketball team as well)--world renowned.

A girl in my dept hurt her back. Badly. Vomiting when she moved, it was awful. They put her off for three days and then forced her back to the dept. She walked with a cane. They told her, sit in the corner, everybody will do your job for you. If we are going to pay you, your body will be here.

Imagine how well this went over with the rest of us that she had an assignment and we all had to take our own, plus divvy up hers. It caused resentment and almost hatred towards the girl.

This was intentional. This is a tactic that employers use, particularly when they have "inhouse" worker's comp...meaning, they don't farm it out. If you work at a place that has their own WC? You need to make sure you get good disability insurance in case you ever get injured....because this will happen...

She ended up crying in a corner every single day--she had to have her husband drive her to work and pick her up, because she was on so much percocet (opiate naive) she could barely stay awake. This went on for about 3 months. Finally, she tried to do some work---and guess what---she was injured, right in front of us, AGAIN. This time, she ended up being carted out in a wheelchair, vomiting.

She was told that "if the public knew how many nurses were working on opiates given to them by WC, the hospital would close down".

This is what nurses sacrifice their health, homes, marriages, financial well being on the altar of----corporate owners who will DOSE YOU in order to keep you on your feet. They look the other way when it benefits them, but throw you under the bus when you make a mistake while under the influence.

She won her case against the hospital after 4 years. Buzzwords you use with these orificeholes is "under the influence" "I will report this to CMS" "I will report this to a media station" "I will file a grievance with the union"...but always use the words....I FEEL UNSAFE WORKING UNDER THE INFLUENCE. IF I MAKE A MISTAKE AND KILL ONE OF YOUR PATIENTS, I WANT IT DOCUMENTED THAT YOU GAVE ME FENTANYL PATCHES AND FORCED ME BACK TO WORK.

This is nursing. Huzzah.

2 Votes
Specializes in ED, ICU, Prehospital.
6 minutes ago, aflahe00 said:

Taking away her nursing license most definitely would destroy her life, make no mistake about that.

So a little about Radonda Vaught.

She and her husband own a 50 acre farm where they raise and sell commercially lambs, chickens and eggs. She and her husband also own a clothing company that sells to hunters....something about "horny". Radonda also works for Centennial in Nashville, as an ICU nurse.

This in NO WAY dampens the destruction that will be done to her life if her nursing license is revoked. I am not getting into the criminal repercussions here, because that is all speculation and UP TO A SENTENCING HEARING JUDGE.

However, she and her husband have a lot in their lives as far as income, security and means.

Psychologically--- she will never recover if she is even a halfway normal person with a conscience. I know I wouldn't.

Specializes in ED, ICU, Prehospital.
3 hours ago, Ruby Vee said:

I agree; if she wasn't an ICU nurse, her Pyxis sign-in should not have allowed her access to Vecuronium OR Versed. I remember floating to off-service areas and having to have the charge of that unit sign out certain medications that I didn't have access to.

The nurse was relatively new -- she didn't know what she didn't know but she'd been around long enough to think she knew all she needed to know. That's a dangerous time in any nurse's career . . . I am just so sad for the patient, the family and the nurse who, I am sure, is beating herself up.

The AACN has her listed as a certified CV-ICU RN.

2 Votes
Specializes in ED, ICU, Prehospital.
4 hours ago, mtnNurse. said:

JadedCPN, since you want to reply without reading all previous replies first, I'll repost this for you because I'm trying to get you to understand why what she did is not "reckless homicide" which she was charged with.

What she did does not fit the definition of reckless homicide. Hopefully I chose a good source to quote the following:

Reckless vs. Criminally Negligent Homicide 

Reckless homicide and criminally negligent homicide are more loosely defined in Tennessee to address the wide variety of behaviors that could be considered beyond the realm of acceptable to the degree that the actions are criminal. One example of reckless homicide is playing Russian roulette by picking up a gun with a single bullet in it and shooting it at a friend. There's a substantial risk the friend will die. In comparison, picking up a gun you believe is empty but failed to check before shooting at your friend could be criminally negligent, as you should have looked to be sure it was empty but had no knowledge or belief that it was loaded.

"Beyond the realm of acceptable to the degree..." -- this subjectivity is why we're debating whether she should be charged. The behavior that we all regard as unacceptable is that she grabbed the wrong medication and administered it. Grabbing the wrong medication and administering it is unacceptable -- but not to the degree of being criminal. Why is it not criminal? Because depending on what led up to her horrible mistakes, we might be able to understand how she ended up in the unaware mindset she was in to make such a mistake. Anyone who has worked as a nurse in an understaffed hospital could make a long list of factors that could, if all horrifically aligned in one moment, cause mistakes of this magnitude.

She was not aware in those moments that she was picking up a loaded gun and shooting it at the patient -- she should have been aware (as people wisely pointed out, all nurses should always be aware that any medicine could be fatal to any patient) -- but she was not aware. If she had the presence of mind to think she might possibly kill this patient, then she would have had the presence of mind to double-check what the medicine was.

So if anything, what she did fits the definition of criminal negligence, not reckless homicide.

"What she did does not fit the definition of reckless homicide. Hopefully I chose a good source to quote the following:

Reckless vs. Criminally Negligent Homicide"

Why. Because you said so?

1 Votes

Safe-guards are not really there for nurses when you look at the short staffing, having to train someone and make no mistakes. The training is not long enough. Support is lacking. It is an illusion to think that scanning, saying your five rights yada yada yada will be enough to not to make a mistake. Having to hurry and get things done under tons of pressure etc., can cause your mind to forget the supposed safe-guards. Your mind is not meant to handle all of the things required to not make a mistake. I am actually shocked that what happened doesn't happen more often.

2 Votes
Specializes in UR/PA, Hematology/Oncology, Med Surg, Psych.

Some need to get off of their high horse before Karma comes a knocking. Just what do those that favor the nurse being charged think it will accomplish? It won't be a deterrent as we all try to do our best, but with staffing,everything we are responsible for, etc ...I just don't know.

2 Votes
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