. A former Texas nurse was sentenced to death this week for injecting air into the arteries of four patients recovering from heart surgery, causing fatal brain damage, a court official said. Daughter-in-law Chandra Murphey, who is married to Michael, testified that her family hasnt had peace or closure for four years and the situation has just been sickening to us. Chandra said, We did so much together as a family, and it just ended, in a split second for us., Speaking on behalf of my father in law he cries every day. Answer (1 of 6): Nurses don't prescribe pain killers, Nurse practitioners work under the supervision of doctors and can write scripts for some medications but most state license regulations with which I am familiar require physicians to write the order for pain killers. In higher doses, pancuronium is used to administer lethal injections. The woman had initially checked into the hospital with a subdural hematoma. Viruses begin to multiply rapidly once in the bloodstream, so preventing entry into the bloodstream in the first place is extremely important. The criminal case of RaDonda Vaughta 38-year-old former registered nurse at Vanderbilt University Medical Centerbecame a cause clbre for those in her profession. Six months later, we implemented our programResilience in Stressful Events, or RISE. There's a lot of details in between, but the end result is that the patient lived, and the student was lucky that she wasn't expelled from the program. Mark Humphrey/AP Ive made plenty of mistakes as an MA. Vaught was ordered to collect the Versed from a computerized medication cabinet but grabbed vecuronium instead, leading to Murphey becoming brain dead. Yes, your error turned out to have disastrous consequences. It just makes me wonder how these students will do in clinical (if they make it that far). [Kim] called me on her way home. Marty Nemko's bio is in Wikipedia. The 75-year-old woman died a day after the injection left her brain-dead. Get adequately skilled, then do your best, and when you make a mistake, learn from it, forgive yourself, and keep trying to be the best you can be. A former nurse at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., was arrested and charged with reckless homicide and abuse in February for making a medical mistake that resulted in an elderly patient's death. During Fridays hearing, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agent Ramona Smith, who interviewed Vaught after Murpheys death, testified that the nurse didnt seem remorseful about what happened. The former nurses sentences are likely to run concurrently, a Davidson County District Attorneys Office spokesman told NPR. Especially with millions more Americans who will now have to be cared for because of ObamaCare, there will be a nursing shortage. She was questioning her self-worth.. Only thing I can think of is if a student did VS or BG and didnt report any abnormalities to the nurse. Seattle Childrens Hospital fired Kim shortly afterward. As stated earlier, an exposure can be very stressful and scary, affecting not just the patient and nurse but the nurse's family as well. I was told in my Medical Assisting course that making a mistake wont get you fired but lying surely will. But deep down were sure she is sorry. Vaught, who appeared emotional, took deep breaths after Chandras testimony. The Smith family originally filed a wrongful death lawsuit in February against the hospital's parent company and the pharmacist, but they recently amended their complaint to include the nurse and the hospital. Michael said that knowing his mother, who was a forgiving person, she wouldnt want to see Vaught serve significant jail time. I hope that they are also just as relieved to be moving away from this process that has been held up in the legal system for four and a half years.. Whats happened here is that health care has been completely changed, founder Janie Harvey Garner told the Associated Press. He remained in a vegetative state until he died a month later. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? Learn more about the role of HIV/AIDS RNs. Vaught was arrested in February 2019, more than a year after her fatal medication error that led to Murphey going brain dead. She faces three to six years in prison for the gross neglect conviction and one to two years for criminally negligent homicide. Hed been told to study what you know. He knew, from firsthand experience, that his fellow residents made mistakes, sometimes serious ones. Most American hospitals arent there yet. But clinicians dont exist in a vacuum. Once you've had some experience as a student, and even more . A Hepatitis B vaccine may also be indicated, and the nurse may choose the option of starting post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to reduce the transmission of HIV. The patient died five days after the error. Nothing about it felt urgent; providers had made do without one for decades. Its hard to justify in your budget. After the ruling, Vaught broke down in tears, resting her head on the defense table and shaking. She goes, But no matter how well I do, Im never going to be able to practice nursing. Now when we tell the truth, were incriminating ourselves., Stephanie Amador/The Tennessean via AP, Pool, Nicole Hester/The Tennessean via AP, Pool, 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Davidson County District Attorneys Office spokesman. Vaught, a former nurse at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, was indicted in the December 2017 death of Charlene Murphey, whom she injected with the powerful paralyzing drug vecuronium, instead of a dose of a sedative called Versed. Vaught faced up to eight years behind bars. During Fridays hearing, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agent Ramona Smith, who interviewed Vaught after Murpheys death, testified that the nurse didnt seem remorseful about what happened. This ruling will have a long-lasting negative impact on the profession.. Rinse and wash the area well with running water and soap. When I had my first experience [of a patient dying], says Scott, a patient-safety expert at the University of Missouri, I said something to the nurse I was working with, like, I dont know if my heart can take this. Her response was, Welcome to nursing. This approach to preventing errors is well-accepted in the medical and nursing communities, which makes a criminal case like Vaught's all the more surprising, says Kirstin Manges, a nurse and researcher at the University of Pennsylvania who studies patient safety. But, according to the Tennessean, Murphey needed a final scan in the radiology department first. Im wondering if its premature to have quit nursing. I calculated the . Home / Nursing Articles / What Happens If a Nurse Gets a Needlestick or Other Type of Exposure? Clean any accidental sticks right away. RELATED: How Do Psychiatric Nurses / NPs Stay Safe on the Job? But we forgive her my mother-in-law would want her to be forgiven, and jail time is not an option to me for her., Still, Chandra added of Vaught, In the past 4.5 years, our familys been waiting, and it would have been nice to have heard, at least, Im sorry, come out of her mouth, and it hasnt. The drug, which is typically used during intubations, acts as a muscle relaxant and paralytic. The patient was supposed to get Versed, a sedative intended to calm her before being scanned in a large, MRI-like machine. They may not want to "dump" their work on others and sometimes they are afraid of discipline for reporting a sharps injury. Unfortunately, needlestick and other types of exposures happen. Then again at the end of the day its just a mistake in a job where you dedicate your life to helping people. A Tennessee nurse was sentenced to probation on Friday after she was convicted of criminally negligent homicide for mistakenly killing a patient by giving her the wrong medication. Psychology Today 2023 Sussex Publishers, LLC, Source: FreeStockPhotos.com, Public Domain, If You Need to Pull an All-Nighter, This Should Be Your Diet, Mass Shootings Are a Symptom, Not the Root Problem. I am starting clinical in the summer and had a morbid curiosity. Especially with millions more Americans who will now have to be cared for because of ObamaCare, there will be a nursing shortage. Staying Single: What Most People Do If They Divorce After 50. I suppose it would be the same thing you would feel if you felt you were at fault for a childs death.. Get the help you need from a therapist near youa FREE service from Psychology Today. Also, the patient must give consent to check blood work. Kim drove home, panicked about what would happen to her patient. Police officer who slept with six co-workers claims she was 'sexually groomed', Imperial College Chemical Engineering Applicants 2023. Prosecutors accused Vaught of disregarding warnings when she grabbed the wrong drug from an electronic dispensing cabinet that required her to search for it by name. Subsequent blood work (for at least six months) to monitor conversion status may also be indicated. "He led a very active life, he was an avid fisherman, he liked to cook. And many in the patient safety community say they don't understand what prompted the DA's office to prosecute this case in particular. Likewise, sexual or romantic relationships between a physician and a former patient may be unduly influenced by the previous physician-patient relationship. The nurse who administered the incorrect medication "is still working there in the exact same unit where the medical error occurred," Yaffa said. The North Shore Medical Center did not respond to inquiries from ABCNews.com prior to the publication of this article. The stress has taken its toll on his mother, he said, who was married to Richard Smith for 55 years. Uvo Ologboride, the nurse named in the lawsuit, had given Smith pancuronium. Marty Nemko's bio is in Wikipedia. His father, however, thinks she should receive the maximum sentence. Wash it. It happens. Kim fell in love with the professionand her patients. Im sorry that I havent said it to you sooner. I know when to go to a reference or ask for assistance, when to refuse an assignment or procedure, and do my best to practice safe. Im wondering if its premature to have quit nursing. Someone has to pay the price, and its really easy to say, Just let her do it, Vaught said prior to the verdict. Former Tennessee nurse RaDonda Vaught was convicted in the accidental death of a patient whom she injected with the wrong drug. He trained deacons in the church.". She labeled the patients name band and syringe with the time and size of the dosage. One of the moms of a former patient talked about how Kim cared for her daughter when she had a transplant, how she made it a fun time for her, she said. But Vaught accidentally grabbed vecuronium, a powerful paralyzer,. It killed him. The packages for Epinephrine 1:1000 and Epinephrine 1:10,000 look very similar and were stored side by side. You are able to connect with families in a way that makes them feel valued and special. You are such a wonderful advocate for your patients and families, Kims supervisor, Cathie Rea, wrote in Kims 2009 annual performance review. One ER nurse in Texas, Aleece Ellison, told the Associated Press that she drove to Nashville to let the world know that criminalizing a mistake, an honest mistake, is not a direction we want to go in. She said Vaughts sentence could impact whether she stays in the field. 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