In this article and video, I will share a legal perspective of Vanderbilt Nurse RaDonda Vaught's fatal medication error, providing insights into the legal aspects surrounding the case.
Unless you've been living under a rock. You know all about RaDonda Vaught, the Tennessee Nurse who made a terrible and tragic fatal medication error. I won't go over all the details of the case here since there have already been multiple articles in the news and on allnurses.com. I will share more in the video below. As a nurse attorney, I want to give some legal perspectives about this case.
The Basics
Charlene Murphy (let's not forget about her) - a patient undergoing a CAT scan
RaDonda Vaught - nurse with 2 years of experience working as a help-a-nurse
The Doctor (whose name has not been spread all over the news) ordered Versed
RaDonda overrode the Pyxis and erroneously retrieved Vecuronium instead of Versed
RaDonda failed to perform the 5 Rights of Medication Administration
The fatal dose of Vecuronium administered to Charlene Murphy
RaDonda still has an active license
Vanderbilt Medical Center did not tell the family about the medication error until a year later.
Questions
Did Vanderbilt Medical Center have policies and procedures for the administration of Versed including monitoring?
Why didn't the family learn the truth of the matter until a year after CMS investigated?
Should RaDonda be found guilty of Reckless Homicide and receive a prison sentence?
In the State of Tennessee, what is Reckless Homicide?
Why did RaDonda plea not guilty?
What precedent might the outcome of this case set?
The real issue in Radonda's situation is "did this amount to reckless homicide?” I do not agree that it did. Flat out negligence, no question about it. Medical malpractice, no question about it. I have no idea what a jury will decide should RaDonda's case go to trial. What would your vote be if you were sitting on the jury? Guilty or Not Guilty?
If you find yourself of the opinion that "yes", RaDonda should be criminally prosecuted, keep in mind that this could be you!
Please watch the video below and find out the answers to some of the questions posted above. Then, share your comments below.
I see what you're saying but in the "good old days" we didn't have anything like a Pyxis or bar-code scanning so we relied on the 5 rights that are still taught today. If those had been followed there wouldn't even be a story regardless of overrides. Frankly, it pains me to say this because I love technology and am the smart user for most of it on my unit, I'm afraid it has made us a little lazy and less detail-oriented. If a nurse is willing and able to override the safety mechanisms built into a system and also disregards the basic tenets of safe drug administration then has our "progress" made things better? Maybe a re-evaluation of the old ways to pull out the positives is in order. Obviously going backwards entirely would be ridiculous and that's not at all what I'm saying but sometimes "new" is not better it just looks cooler.
Last I knew there are now up to 10 checks taught. That's part of the problem.
Agree with the no prison view but feel the charges are valid and she needs more than losing her license. She clearly hasn't learned anything AEB her recent behavior.
Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
21 minutes ago, yomurse said:
Can someone please tell me what a CMS report is and where can I read it?
The CMS report is the report out by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. I believe @Wuzzie has linked to the a few times in some of the other threads in this topic.
Lose license.. yes. Prison??? No.. it was a mistake- albeit fatal- it was a mistake. I don't sense there was any ill intent.
I disagree with this. My opinion is she should get jail time. Was it a mistake? Sure, but it was a mistake that happened because of gross negligence well beyond a failure to follow acceptable standard med administration policies.
I look at it kind of like the person who kills somebody while driving drunk. Was that a mistake and an accident? Sure, but while there was no ill intent that person still made the choice to get behind the wheel after drinking and should face the consequences that come with vehicular manslaughter.
Just like in my opinion Ms Vaught should face the consequences of deciding to ignore every step that could have prevented her from giving that fatal med.
HigginsdogRN
16 Posts
Last I knew there are now up to 10 checks taught. That's part of the problem.