Nurses Call the Governor of Tennessee

Published

The state of TN is prosecuting nurse Radonda Vaught for reckless homicide. You can contact the Governor or DA to let him know what you think about this choice.

Governor Bill Lee

1st Floor, State Capitol
Nashville, TN 37243
(615) 741-2001
email: [email protected]

District Attorney Glenn Funk

There seem to be A LOT of people who wrongly believe that a homicide charge must include malice or intent.

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Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.
2 hours ago, Wuzzie said:

Do you think there might be a slight chance that her "honesty" was coached? I'm too suspicious to find it remarkable.

For sure. But that is of course part of a strategy of “humanizing” her error. There is a person behind the mistake and she’s just like you and me. I think it works and I’m not mad at it necessarily.

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1 hour ago, Horseshoe said:

Just to clarify, there have been only a very few posters here who advocate no "legal consequences." But we have civil and criminal legal consequences in our country, and that seems to be where the bone of contention lies for most.

I've read every single post and come away with the impression that most believe she should lose her license. It is a minority who thinks legal consequences are appropriate.

The poll results show 80% disagree with the charges. If the actions fit the legal definition of reckless homicide, we have to accept within the law what is the appropriate consequence, and not leave the public believing that we are somehow above the law.

Like I said I don't expect that she well face any prison time. We have lots of wiggle room in our justice system, and I do hope that if found guilty, the judge is lenient on her and gives probation only. Loss of her license is punishment enough in my opinion. But I think the legal system should make that determination.

Of course then we move from a discussion of hospital system failures to failures of our justice system... As messed up as things are sometimes with "faulty people judging other faulty people", it is a basically good system.

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2 minutes ago, mtmkjr said:

Duplicate post

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3 minutes ago, mtmkjr said:

I've read every single post and come away with the impression that most believe she should lose her license. It is a minority who thinks legal consequences are appropriate.

We have civil law and criminal law. Losing her license and possibly being named in a civil lawsuit would be "legal consequences-"but they would be civil, not criminal punishments.

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2 minutes ago, Horseshoe said:

We have civil law and criminal law. Losing her license and possibly being named in a civil lawsuit would be "legal consequences-"but they would be civil, not criminal punishments.

You are correct.

"I've read every single post and come away with the impression that most believe she should lose her license. It is a minority who thinks criminal charges are appropriate."

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Specializes in ER.

I did make a small donation to help her through this ordeal. I'm curious, did she lack personal ? That sounds like a possibility.

Of course she's presenting herself in the best light. But she's probably a decent person, although lacking the temperament to be a prudent nurse.

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5 minutes ago, Emergent said:

I did make a small donation to help her through this ordeal. I'm curious, did she lack personal malpractice insurance? That sounds like a possibility.

Of course she's presenting herself in the best light. But she's probably a decent person, although lacking the temperament to be a prudent nurse.

Does cover one for criminal charges? I never read that small print on my own insurance-like most, I was more interested in how I would be covered for accusations of malpractice, which is a civil matter.

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Specializes in ICU/community health/school nursing.
19 hours ago, juan de la cruz said:

I don’t know why there is no word from the Tennessee BON.

The BON will allow her license to read as unencumbered until she is charged with something. For all we know they've been working on this for the balance of a year. But discipline is only applied after the Board finds all the facts.

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Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.

Still doesn’t make sense that the Tennessee BON hasn’t made any fact finding investigation. The only explanation I have is that she was never reported to the BON. Interestingly, a search of Tennessee BON decisions reveal multiple nursing license suspensions for failure to pay student loans ?.

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

I hate to say it but I do feel criminal penalties are appropriate in this case. You cannot trace the lack of basic good practice to a systems error here. Bad nurses should not be in nursing and being a nurse should not protect them from the legalities of this kind of negligence. I suspect a lot of the disagreement has to do with fear of a slippery slope more than the actual sense that there shouldn't be legal repercussions. We all fear making that kind of a mistake. Heck, we have all MADE mistakes. I feel very angry about this one, though. I think it was above and beyond the definition of negligent and if it was my loved one, I would feel justice would require time before a judge.

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1 hour ago, juan de la cruz said:

Still doesn’t make sense that the Tennessee BON hasn’t made any fact finding investigation. The only explanation I have is that she was never reported to the BON. Interestingly, a search of Tennessee BON decisions reveal multiple nursing license suspensions for failure to pay student loans ?.

Do we know that they haven't? Haven't others said that they don't disclose that until all investigation is complete and a decision has been made?

I don't know anything about Tennessee BON practices, just restating what (IIRC) has been stated on these threads.

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