Wisconsin Nurse being charged with criminal neglect

[psalm_55]

what happened here is truly tragic -- but given the complex, understaffed and over worked conditions in most hospitals, well -- it, or something like it, could happen to many of us.

the nurse's name is "Julie". there is a link at this web site to email support to this nurse. Please join me in letting Julie know that we are with her.

ALL nursing organizations need to address this -- and muster as much support from other professional organizations to STOP THIS MADNESS of pressing criminal charges against a nurse who made an honest mistake.

by the way, where is the ANA??????????????

Since When Is It A Crime To Be Human?

ismp.org says it so well:

"The belief that a medication error could lead to felony charges, steep fines, and a jail sentence can also have a chilling effect on the recruitment and retention of healthcare providers--particularly nurses, who are already in short supply."

Please use this link to give support to that RN.

[Medic/Nurse, BSN, RN]

The KEY element to a crime, is INTENT.

Sure, this was a tragic outcome.

I'll bet my CAREER that this nurse did not intend to harm this PATIENT. However, I'd be willing to bet that this nurse had the following intent:

To attempt to alleviate the anxiety (near hysteria) of a 16 (Yep, SIXTEEN) YEAR OLD girl that was inpatient to GIVE BIRTH to a child, that had her mother at her bedside. The report notes that this PATIENT had issue with the IV medication and in an (now horribly misguided) attempt to "educate" this patient she brought medication to the bedside in an attempt to educate this girl and her mother. Did this patient have any prenatal care/education? Was this just another 16 year old, bringing another life into a socially failing system?

Not to get flamed here, but there are some patient populations that allow behaviors to get increasingly OUT OF CONTROL with little restraint from family. (I've seen patients and their increasing numbers of family members get hysterical, faint, verbally abusive and physically difficult to control - patients should have a support system, not a system that adds to the "situation".). What was the role of the PATIENTS mother who was at the bedside of her 16 YEAR OLD daughter about to birth "her" grandchild? Sure, she has no role in the medication administration, but did she contribute to the "hysteria" that apparently took over the room over the patient needing an IV or medication? - Even if she was contributing, I'll bet that this nurse knew there was NO CHANCE in getting her to leave.

I'm speculating. Not a good idea, but trying to get a feel for the "circumstances" that led to this tragedy.

Nursing today places nurses in practice without necessary staff/ancillary support, increasing demands and more diverse patient populations.

If this amounts to "involuntary" under the LAW, we (the nursing profession) are in TROUBLE. The amount of which, I'll bet can't even be predicted.

Sure, I may sound a bit cold or callous - I'm NOT. I'm just amazed that a fellow nurse without intent is facing a cold and sure to be callous CRIMINAL JUSTICE system. Lets hope for a jury of her PEERS.

[dream'n, BSN, RN]

I am just shocked at some of the other nurses here. What on earth will be gained by putting this nurse in jail? Do you think this will make nurses more careful than they already are? Do you think sending her to prison will make nurses more than human, and unable to make mistakes? Do you think that all nurses that make med. errors should be prosecuted, or only those that are unfortunate enough to make 'big ones.' If the current trend of prosecuting continues, I for one will leave nursing. As if enough nurses aren't already leaving the bedside for ut review, case management, etc.

[barbyann]

I agree that all nurses make mistakes. I have made more than I like to think about. Thankfully no one was ever harmed by one of my mistakes.

Karen

I think your view is way too narrow. You don't know if a mistake you made has harmed someone. There are all kinds of errors, those that come to light immediately, some that become known at a later time and some that are never caught, nor recorded. Fact is we will never know about most of our errors and the resulting consequences. We, as nurses, must face this fact everyday. It is a heavy load.

[Multicollinearity, BSN, RN]

Interesting court document published on the Internet regarding this nurse:

http://www.wha.org/legalAndRegulatory/thao_bailmemo.pdf

Her biography begins on page 2.

[dream'n, BSN, RN]

Why is it that if a nurse makes an error, she most certainly will be disciplined by the BON or lose her license, but a Dr. must have series of errors showing gross malpractice to be disciplined or lose his license? Of course, I believe a nurse should show they have learned from their mistakes, but why is it so different for MDs. In general, state boards of Medicine seem rather reluctant to take MD licenses, but not state BONs. Perhaps I am wrong, but the idea just occurred to me. I worked with a nurse that was fired for making one or two minor errors (she was a new nurse with the organization and I feel her mistakes were probably due to poor on the job training) and the next thing I know is that the BON is calling me to be a witness on her behalf. BUT I have seen Drs make some whopper mistakes, and they just get counciled by their superiors. I don't understand. Why the double-standard?

[Grace Oz]

I think the whole situation is deeply regrettable and very very sad. For ALL concerned!

Pursuing this nurse as if she were a criminal though..........

I think each and every nurse should take heed from this tragic event and do all they can to ensure it doesn't happen to them.

Let us not judge this woman. She deserves compassion as much as anything.

[PANurseRN1]

Perhaps I am mistaken but did you all forget that this patient died along with her unborn child? It appears all these posts are for support of the nurse and nothing of the 2 lifes that were lost. To merely call this a "human mistake or an error" is an understatement. If we went around with the mentality "everyone makes mistakes" then I guess our mistakes would be fatal and our patients would die. Although I feel for the nurse and don't believe for a second her intent was of malicious nature, her actions were negligent and she defied what a nurse is taught in nursing school regarding the 5 Rights of Administration. Not to the mention the Bridge System which is meant to reduce errors and secure the right drug is given to the right patient was NEVER followed. If this was a physician that caused death, all hell would break loose. Malpractice etc.... the nurse should be held to the same level. I can't say what the answer is for this "Julie." All I know is she needs to do some MAJOR soul searching as to why she became a nurse in the first place and what this means to provide patient care. If time in jail or her license is revoked then so be it.

As a nursing student, you are really not in a position to judge someone who is a licensed nurse, especially someone with years of experience. You do not know what it is like to work as an RN. It is terribly presumptuous on your part to begin to pontificate to those of us who have spent years, decades in some cases, in this profession.

It has already been pointed out that the errors this nurse made were grave. No one has tried to deny that. And only someone who has no nursing experience would even attempt to say that a doc would be hung out to dry for this type of mistake. Those of us who actually work as nurses know that docs close ranks for each other, and that had this happened to a doc, you can bet there would have been plenty of docs to defend him/her. It's highly doubtful charges would have been filed.

Get some real life experience before you presume to lecture.

[PANurseRN1]

Ruby not sure who the reference to a "nursing student" was directed to? You are wrong if it was towards me.

IMHO any nurse who gives an epidural IV without clearly seeing the highlighted marks on the bag, disregarded the Bridge System, and not to mention the 5 Rights of Administration deserves more than a slap on the wrist. It's not up to me to say she deserves jail. I also realize and believe there was no intent to do harm. However this resulted in a death. If regular everyday people who hit an individual with a car get charged for manslaughter why should this nurse be different? Her negligence is one thing, perhaps she was overworked/over staffed etc however she had the intent of getting drugs out without using proper protocol. This was intentional and she admits to this. Her intentional actions caused a life.

If you're no longer a student, then you need to update your user profile.

Yes, she willfully breached the safety systems. It was not done out of malice, so far as anyone can see. She should be punished in civil court and by the BON, but jail? Give me a break.

[erichRN]

Just imagine what she is feeling! To actually be responsible for killing someone is something that one does not simply get over. Thank you for the link to express support.

[AnnieOaklyRN, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

Do we know if the baby survived??

swtooth

[AnnieOaklyRN, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

The KEY element to a crime, is INTENT.

Sure, this was a tragic outcome.

I'll bet my CAREER that this nurse did not intend to harm this PATIENT. However, I'd be willing to bet that this nurse had the following intent:

----------

Good point NREMPT/RN, however we prosecute people who kill others with their car or other means who did not have the intent to kill another person. We prosecute them because they showed a disreguard for the safety others by violating rules...

swtooth

[Simplepleasures]

I have seen "criminal neglect" resulting in death in a nursing home I used to work in, why was this not persued by the Department of Justice? See my post in this thread for details of this situation.Why single this nurse out, could this be setting a precident for the rest of us?