Li said a small dose may not have been lethal. RaDonda Vaught and her attorney, Peter Strianse, listen as verdicts are read at her trial in Nashville, Tenn., on Friday, March 25. "Never in my 14 years have I felt so helpless," she said. This means its up to the District Attorney to decide when and if to file charges against people. However, I feel a professional and ethical obligation, to be honest about that. The point is that it was not his decision to make to hasten their deaths. [8], On December 24, 2017, 75-year-old Charlene Murphey was admitted to the hospital for a subdural hematoma. "No one has forgotten about your loved one, no one has forgotten about Ms. Murphey. Nurses are going to go to jail, and more people are going to die because they wont report their errors.". In the meantime, check out one of her websites here. Purchase short-term access on a pay-per-article or pay-per-issue basis. Thank you for taking the time to review this case and present all the facts. I think a lot of us feel this way, and its difficult to find the wordsits hard not to empathize with her, but at the same time she made a huge mistake. [5] The "just culture" philosophy has been adopted by hospitals since a 1999 study by the National Academy of Medicine found that 98,000 people may have been dying due to medical errors annually. You can reach her on Twitter at @s_rumpfwhitten. In the US, we have something called prosecutorial discretion. She has published and lectured throughout her career. The case involved a fatal medication error that occurred on December 26, 2017, while Vaught worked as a registered nurse at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.1 Following the conviction, there was an avalanche of reactions from both within and outside of the nursing profession. Assistant District Attorney Debbie Housel shows a nurse pin to the jury, a symbolic pin for newly graduated nurses during the opening statements in the trial of ex-Vanderbilt nurse, RaDonda Vaught, at Justice A.A. Birch Building in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 22, 2022. What happened in the RaDonda Vaught case Jurors deliberated for about four hours before convicting Vaught of reckless homicide and impaired adult abuse. RaDonda Vaught sentenced to three years' supervised probation. Body parts strewn across city in Mexico along with cartel messages. I think the person probably meant they were the errors preceding the incident. I do not think jail time is appropriate for this situation, but I do think her not being able to function as a nurse would be, along with other things like probation or a fine. Prosecutors choose what charges to bring, and a lot can sway their decision-making. Our first thought in both cases goes to the families who have endured the pain brought about by these circumstances. The state planned to use the charge as evidence to discredit Vaught should she choose to testify at her trial. His wife, Chandra Murphey also testified Friday about the way things were before her mother-in-law died. The former ICU nurse spoke with The Tennessean outside a. Youre not a task-master, youre a professional nurse who has a duty to critically think through situations. We cant control the district attorneys political aspirations. Murphey died the next day after being taken off life support. Vaught was found guilty in March of criminally negligent homicide and gross neglect of an impaired adult. Whatever reason compelled him to do so, the basic fact is that it was not within his purview, as a physician who has taken an oath of do no harm, to make the decision to hasten someones death. Many have given all they can to their hospitals and patients, often way too much, far skewing what should be a mutually beneficial business partnership. She again searched VE and many meds came up. Murphey was prescribed a sedative, Versed, to calm her before being scanned in a large MRI-like machine. The crowd of nurses outside protesting cheered, cried and hugged after hearing the sentence. In the wake of the verdict, the American Nurses Association issued a statement expressing similar concerns about Vaught's conviction, saying it sets a "dangerous precedent" of "criminalizing the honest reporting of mistakes." The patients family is interviewed by news media around this time, who state they would forgive Vaught for the error. Rather than 20 individual errors prior to the incident. A former Tennessee nurse whose medication error killed a patient was sentenced to three years of probation Friday. In July 2021, her discipline hearing begins. They are aware of the consequences but proceed anyway. The crowd outside listened to the hearing through loudspeakers and cheered when some of the victim's relatives said they wouldn't want jail time for Vaught. Shes charged with reckless homicide and impaired adult abuse. Back on March 25, Ms. Vaught was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide stemming from the death of a patient at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2017. She still has her nursing license at this time. "Im just so passionate about it. RaDonda Vaught gets no jail time in medication error that led to death I had heard that in the court documents RaDonda had 20 drug errors prior to the incident. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! Vaught faces three to six years in prison for neglect and one to two years for negligent homicide as a defendant with no prior convictions, according to sentencing guidelines provided by the Nashville district attorney's office. Unfortunately, medical errors can and do happen, even among skilled, well-meaning, and vigilant nurses and healthcare professionals,". RaDonda Vaught, a former nurse at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, had been found guilty in March of two charges, criminally negligent homicide and abuse of an impaired adult, after a . We cant control our hospitals administrators. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. I dont want the message to continue to be that were at the mercy of our hospital and the justice department with no autonomy over our future. hide caption. In fact, Ms. Vaught's arrest and conviction makes patients less safe,", "We are grateful to the judge for demonstrating leniency in the sentencing of Nurse Vaught. Putting her in prison will do no goodusing her example can be educational moment for all. When you read the anonymous CMS complaint, it reads as an experienced health care professional with intimate knowledge of the situation wrote it. In this situation, the individual is oblivious to the consequences of their actions. Vaught apologized to the family in court, saying words will never fully express her "remorse and sorrow. Her combined years of nursing experience, education, and writing skills guided her into the field of nurse writing. We still have her Christmas presents in our attic wrapped.". Best wishes always. On Friday, Vaughts supporters wore purple T-shirts reading "#IAmRaDonda" and "Seeking Justice for Nurses and Patients in a BROKEN system," as they listened to speeches from other nurses and supporters. Vaught reported her error as soon as she realized what she had done wrong injected the paralyzing drug vecuronium instead of the sedative Versed into 75-year-old Charlene Murphey on December 26, 2017. "This could be me." We are left scratching our heads. An emergency room nurse for 14 years, she said she broke down crying when Vaught was found guilty. 3. Health care delivery is highly complex. If a policy change sounded good on paper but isnt translating in the unit into something thats safe, its our professional obligation to communicate that to leadership. [9], After Murphey's death, the hospital did not report the error to federal or state regulators (as required by law) and reported to the county medical examiner that Murphey died of natural causes with no mention of the vecuronium. As a nurse faces prison for a deadly error, her colleagues worry: Could I be next. In both cases, Chauvin and Vaught, there were policies and procedures in place to prevent this level of harm, and in both cases, those policies and procedures were ignored to an excessive level. It doesn't fix the system weaknesses that allow people to fail. Another way to empower nurses: Listen to them, The Breen bill to protect health providers is well-intentioned. During a separate proceeding before the Tennessee Board of Nursing last year, Vaught testified that she allowed herself to become "complacent" and "distracted" while using the medication cabinet and did not double-check which drug she had withdrawn despite multiple opportunities. However, she had sustained permanent brain damage and was determined to be brain dead. 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. RaDonda Vaught was working as a nurse at Vanderbilt University Medical Center when, on Dec. 26, 2017, she made a mistake that resulted in the death of her patient, Charlene Murphey. The jury found Vaught, a former nurse, guilty of criminally negligent homicide and gross neglect of an impaired adult in the death of a patient to whom she accidentally gave the wrong medication. Like. "Im sorry that this public outpouring of support for me has caused you to continue to live this over and over," she told them. More importantly, for those of us who work as nurses and inevitably make an error and believe us, if you work in medicine and claim youve never made one, you just havent been practicing long enough such prosecution will discourage nurses, physicians, and any health care worker for that matter, from reporting their mistakes. Medical errors are generally handled by professional licensing boards or civil courts, and criminal prosecutions like Vaught's case are exceedingly rare. Her baby boy was delivered via emergent C-section and survived. Nashville Criminal Court Judge Jennifer Smith said Vaught would receive judicial diversion, a way for first-time offenders to have their charges dropped, and their records expunged after successfully completing probation. WHO REPORTS COVID CASES DOWN EVERYWHERE BUT AFRICA, AMERICAS. All rights reserved. This is hands down, the best thing Ive read so far about this case. After she is arrested and indicted, the TN Dept of Health decides to reverse its prior decision not to discipline her, but does not provide details on why completely changing their stance when the facts of the situation itself have not changed. Former Tennessee nurse RaDonda Vaught found guilty in woman's death Wondering what to expect from your nurse residency? In contrast to RaDonda, she was tired and overworked. "I don't mean to be facetious," Strianse said of the medical examiner's testimony, "but it sort of sounded like some amateur CSI episode only without the science. Required fields are marked *. I didnt even listen the whole podcast yet. But I am not surprised this ended in a conviction. She selected the first one. This is odd because previously they stated that no action was necessary. Learn how your comment data is processed. People dont take safety measures personally. Vaught was sentenced Friday to serve three years probation for her involvement in the death of a Nashville woman five years ago. (Stephanie Amador/The Tennessean via AP, Pool). "We did so much together as a family, and it just ended in a split second for us. What is wrong with this picture? RaDonda Vaught homicide case - Wikipedia KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Thanks for your comments; appreciate your thoughts and input. He goes out there and cries. On Friday, Vaught's supporters wore purple T-shirts reading "#IAmRaDonda" and "Seeking Justice for Nurses and Patients in a BROKEN system," as they listened to speeches from other nurses and supporters. Dont answer your ringing phone while giving meds tell the patient to hold on while youre programming a pump or reviewing their meds in their chart . Given this, however, if RaDonda is guilty shouldnt Vanderbilt be held accountable for failing to report this death to state and federal regulators? "This could be me." On March 25, 2022, a jury found nurse RaDonda Vaught guilty of criminally negligent homicide and felony abuse of an impaired adult.