Radonda Vaught Trial

[tnbutterfly - Mary]

"Fourteen Nashvillians were chosen Monday, March 21, 2022 to sit as a jury in the case of RaDonda Vaught, a former Vanderbilt University Medical Center nurse charged in the death of a patient. She faces charges of reckless homicide and impaired adult abuse in the 2017 death of Charlene Murphey."

For more on this story, see

Jury chosen in homicide trial of ex-Vanderbilt nurse RaDonda Vaught after fatal drug error

RaDonda Vaught’s Arraignment - Guilty or Not of Reckless Homicide and Patient Abuse?

Tennessee Nurse RaDonda Vaught - Legal Perspectives of Fatal Medication Error

What do you think the verdict should/will be?

[Wuzzie]

35 minutes ago, LPN Retired said:

I wonder why such a dangerous drug was even in the accumed cart . seems like that should only be accessible thru the actual pharmacy in the instance it is going to be administered by an anesthesiologist. 

Because in critical care units all over this country this medication is used for more than just intubating and anesthesiologists are not and do not need to be the only provider administering it. Sometimes it’s needed quickly. If you don’t work in an ICU it might be difficult to wrap your head around this. 

[Wuzzie]

2 hours ago, FolksBtrippin said:

It doesn’t fit the definition at all.

Can you expand on this?

[Tenebrae, BSN, RN]

13 hours ago, Wolf at the Door said:

How many years of Critical care have you worked? It is an entirely different stress. 

Let me tell you about one of my days

myself and 3 caregivers to provide care to 40 residents

3 diabetics who needed insulin (no one to check it with)

1 resident who had a massive CVA

Another resident who fell and had a suspected spinal/neck fracture after a fall. 

Another resident who sustained a large skin tear of the shin

Another resident with dementia who went missing

And two residents who were end of life needing changes of syringe driver

 

our ICU nurses are either 1:1 or 2:1 and somehow their stress is the only valid stress in the room. RV was a resource nurse, so to the next of my knowledge she wasnt actually carrying a patient load. 

You know how many people were harmed or killed?

Still none and believe me when I say that day was a massive mud pile

[Julius Seizure]

7 hours ago, tnbutterfly - Mary said:

In today's session, a nurse with 47 years of nursing experience is testifying re. Vaught's failure to meet the Standards of Care.  She is doing an excellent job explaining every detail of what was done and what she failed to do.  She even demonstrated how to properly pull up the drug, the checks that must be done, etc.

It should be very clear to the jury.

If they really want to make an impression, bring a new grad nurse who can also tell you what the 5 rights are without even having all those years of experience.

[klone, MSN, RN]

Agree, how about bring in a nurse who has been practicing for the equivalent number of years as RV was when this occurred. Even then, it would be a very stark difference. She absolutely was reckless.  I think the charge is entirely appropriate (their "reckless homicide" is like "involuntary manslaughter").

[vintagegal, BSN, DNP, RN, NP]

Wrongful death suit and take the license . The shame alone should be enough to serve her right, unless she truly believes her mistakes are someone else’s fault. She killed someone, she will have to deal with that. 

[Wuzzie]

7 minutes ago, vintagegal said:

The shame alone should be enough to serve her right, unless she truly believes her mistakes are someone else’s fault.

Her additional legal issues from an event this past Summer speak to her character. I don’t think she has the capacity to feel shame. 

[klone, MSN, RN]

27 minutes ago, Wuzzie said:

Her additional legal issues from an event this past Summer speak to her character. I don’t think she has the capacity to feel shame. 

What was the event this past Summer?

[Wuzzie]

1 minute ago, klone said:

What was the event this past Summer?

She lied on federal forms when trying to purchase two AR15 rifles. She has been charged with perjury. 

[klone, MSN, RN]

Oh, THAT event

[Wuzzie]

7 minutes ago, klone said:

Oh, THAT event

Yeah, it really makes feeling warm and fuzzy about her impossible for me. 

[Julius Seizure]

I have to be honest though, this part makes me feel yucky:

"A lead investigator in the criminal case against former Tennessee nurse RaDonda Vaught testified Wednesday that state investigators found Vanderbilt University Medical Center had a “heavy burden of responsibility” for a grievous drug error that killed a patient in 2017, but pursued penalties and criminal charges only against the nurse and not the hospital itself."

In Nurse’s Trial, Investigator Says Hospital Bears ‘Heavy’ Responsibility for Patient Death | Kaiser Health News (khn.org)