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?

[ForeverYoung018]

I still stand by my initial statement. The primary nurse should have advocated and said that medication wouldn't be given off the floor. There have been many instances where I haven't felt comfortable with my pts leaving the floor and I have spoke up. I don't care who I piss off or what I delay. 

[guest1168940]

Cannot believe these comments about her, there was no intent even if she was grossly negligent. What about all the docs mistakes are you kidding me 

[LPN Retired, LPN]

2 hours ago, traumaRUs said:

It sounds like she will serve time. Wow is all I can think.  

Yes . such a tragedy . for her and Ms Murphey . Could have been avoided . 

[Wuzzie]

1 minute ago, lMCRN said:

Cannot believe these comments about her, there was no intent even if she was grossly negligent. What about all the docs mistakes are you kidding me 

The lack of intent is why she wasn’t charged with murder. The charge was criminally negligent homicide. I think before you judge those of us who disagree with you it might be helpful for you to read the CMS and TBI reports so you have a more clear picture of what exactly happened. This wasn’t just a simple medication error. 

[guest1168940]

How many pts do you think died of medical error this year?  Why now why this case for criminal charges,  how much does that facility pay in settled malpractice cases per year. 

15 minutes ago, Wuzzie said:

The lack of intent is why she wasn’t charged with murder. The charge was criminally negligent homicide. I think before you judge those of us who disagree with you it might be helpful for you to read the CMS and TBI reports so you have a more clear picture of what exactly happened. This wasn’t just a simple medication error. 

So all medical error that causes death is criminal, since when

[Wuzzie]

15 minutes ago, lMCRN said:

So all medical error that causes death is criminal, since when

No, not all of them but some do and this is one of them. Again I will direct you to the CMS and TBI reports. 

[Orca, ADN, ASN, RN]

Just a guess, but I believe that I might have noticed the big red ring stating WARNING - PARALYTIC AGENT on the top of the vial when I pulled it.

BTW - I noticed that there was an RN and a former RT on the jury that unanimously convicted her.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

CMS Report

TBI Report

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

No one is going to be a winner in this...not RV, not the pt and sadly, not us as nurses. 

[Anonymous865]

4 hours ago, lMCRN said:

Cannot believe these comments about her, there was no intent even if she was grossly negligent. What about all the docs mistakes are you kidding me 

Grossly negligent docs are also being criminally charged.  

https://kdvr.com/news/local/geoffrey-kim-rex-meeker-plastic-surgery-death/

"Dr. Geoffrey Kim faces charges of first-degree aggravated assault and criminally negligent homicide in Emmalyn Nguyen’s death, according to the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office. Nurse anesthetist Rex Meeker also faces a charge of manslaughter."

An 18 year old went for breast augmentation in a free standing plastic surgery center.  She was anesthetized but apparently not monitored for 15 minutes before surgery started.  When found she was in cardiac arrest.  She was resuscitated, but they didn't call 911 for 6 hours.  She suffered an anoxic brain injury and died a year later.

https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/19-year-old-dies-14-months-after-going-under-for-breast-implants-that-left-her-incapacitated

[MECO28, BSN, RN]

This whole case is horrible. I cannot wrap my brain around how many things you’d have to overlook to make this error. Did she look at the bottle at all? It’s marked as plain as day.

And even if it was Versed…why on Earth wasn’t the patient being monitored? Only those of us trained in conscious sedation give Versed in my hospital and we monitor closely after giving it. 
 

What a horrible way to die. Yes, I think the facility is to blame as well for their handling of it. But I just can’t muster a lot of sympathy for this nurse. That is next-level carelessness and while I don’t agree with jail time, she absolutely deserves to be stripped of her license. 

[Susie2310]

I read today the argument being made that systems errors/failures were primarily responsible for what happened, not the individual nurse, and that now patient safety will be even more at risk as licensed health care workers will be less likely to self-report their medication errors/other errors in care.  

Individual nurses are held individually accountable by their state Boards of Nursing (whether they are aware of their professional responsibilities or not) for the nursing care they provide to the public, and are held accountable in Court if their actions or inactions breach the standard of care with resulting injury/harm to the patient.  

In my view, the degree to which a breach of the standard of care that results in injury/harm to the patient can be ascribed to individual nurse actions/inactions and/or systems error/failure, depends on the circumstances.  

As far as licensed health care workers being less likely to self-report when they have incorrectly administered a medication or failed to provide the correct care; to start with, I think that given that medical/nursing errors and actions and inactions that result in harm to patients are not uncommon, I hope that the majority of health care workers are fundamentally decent people who will put patient safety first and foremost and will do the right thing by self-reporting.

As I see it, the fact that concern exists that less self-reporting will happen argues for new methods to prevent and detect errors/actions/inactions in care that result in patient harm.