Vaught is set to be sentenced on her convictions in Davidson County Criminal Court on Friday by Judge Jennifer Smith.
What do you think the sentencing will/should be? Do you think she should receive jail time?
Quote
"Her charges carry possible penalties of up to eight years in prison. The neglect charge could include from three to six years, the homicide one to two years incarceration.
Smith will set the sentence, bound by guidelines in state law, and will decide whether it includes jail time and whether the sentences run concurrently or consecutively."
Judicial Diversion and Supervised probation for 3 years. Will reassess after completion of probationary period.
No prison time.
Judicial Diversion
"Judicial Diversion in TN is a method by which many first-time offenders can have the opportunity to ultimately have their conviction dismissed following a successful probationary period, thereby preserving a clean record and giving them the opportunity to have it expunged, or completely removed, from their criminal history."
It is rather hard to avoid reporting when you paralyze your non-mechanically ventilated patient.
Perhaps hospitals will take this as an example of what can happen when a bad EMR meets an inattentive staff member, meets bad situation.
Most sentinel events are the product of a series of failures, not just one bad decision. This is why root cause analysis focuses on the totality of the situation rather than the individual. The bottom line is that she royally screwed up and has been punished for it. What did Vanderbilt University Medical Center do to fix the situation (their system) so that this never happens again?
My partner is a medical Dr. She mentions that she can’t make one mistake, as it could lead to disaster. Aside from that the court and prison industrial complex is totally inept, corrupt and down right dishonest. “Jail does no one any good,” (WSU, 2003). So remedy, always double check meds and overhaul the police, court, and prison system now! Food for thought, over 50% of the earths population has psychopathic traits, lowered or zero empathy. Why? How? By having the inbred gene thats how and why. And guess who in number the one psycho? Cops , CEO’s and all higher ups. How do you think they got their jobs? Now you know. I have a social science degree, the university taught me well.
Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.
On 5/19/2022 at 1:55 AM, ThePrincessBride said:
No one is saying she should have kept her license so you can back off with the aggression.
No agression present.
Perhaps you are pojecting your own emotional state
I do find it mildly irksome that a nurse neglected her duties in the worse way possible and there seems to be nurses bending over backwards to justify it and put their own excuses for why she shouldnt face consequences
Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.
On 5/19/2022 at 5:42 AM, Wuzzie said:
She blew through 11 warnings. 11. Do you really think 12 warnings would have been the ticket?
Also, do you read the name on the medication vial before drawing it up? RV somehow managed to miss that option.
We give alot of subcut meds in the hospice. Even if I've taken a med out of the box five minutes previously we still double check the name of med, concentration eg 100mcg/2mls and amount to be given.
Thats the saddest thing with this situation, RV could have prevented this if she'd just checked the med name against the prescription. And Charlene Murphy would most likely still be alive. And she certainly wouldnt have died suffocating, fully aware and completely alone
Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
On 5/17/2022 at 7:58 PM, Tweety said:
I think perhaps being found guilty and convicted of the crime, never being able to practice nursing ever again without jail time is enough.
Vanderbilt settled out of court, so they didn't necessarily get away with anything. But by settling out of court with the victims family they avoided the ugliness that RV had to go through. She didn't have that option.
She could have taken a plea bargain at the beginning, but she chose to plead "not guilty". All of this could have been settled out of court with her as well.
Perhaps you are pojecting your own emotional state
I do find it mildly irksome that a nurse neglected her duties in the worse way possible and there seems to be nurses bending over backwards to justify it and put their own excuses for why she shouldnt face consequences
Who said she shouldn't face consequences? Who is justifying her actions?
Maybe you should chill out and actually read the thread before you come in guns blazing...it makes you look foolish and drama-seeking, dear.
ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP
1 Article; 2,594 Posts
I agree 100 percent with you.