For splash exposures, nurses should scrub the area thoroughly with soap and water. "We may not always work in ideal situations.". 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. You are such a wonderful advocate for your patients and families, Kims supervisor, Cathie Rea, wrote in Kims 2009 annual performance review. Saying Im sorry doesnt seem like enough but you deserve to hear that and you deserve to know that I am very sorry for what happened, Vaught added. Id be super pissed if I were them. Her remorse during the case was of the attitude, in my opinion as an investigator, that she felt by telling the truth it would all go away, and that she should be rewarded for being honest., And I appreciate honesty. For example, many hospitals require a nurse to scan a bar code from the pharmacy and on the patient's identifying bracelet before giving a medication, or to use preprogrammed intravenous pumps that prevent medications from being administered too quickly. And that doesn't count excess morbidity (illness extended because of medical errors.). The other nurse pointed out the error: There were 100 milligrams of medication for every milliliter, not 10. But clinicians dont exist in a vacuum. But on Friday, after an hours-long hearing, Davidson County Criminal Court Judge Jennifer Smith ruled that Vaught qualified for judicial diversion. A nurse drew a blood sample that showed her calcium levels to be elevated. Earlier that morning, hundreds of nurses gathered in downtown Nashville, wearing purple T-shirts with the hashtag #IAmRaDonda to support Vaught in face of a broken medical system. 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. "The hospital killed my dad," said Marc Smith of Miami, Fla., whose father went into cardiac arrest after the nurse's mistake at North Shore Medical Center in Miami. Some of them said the errors helped them get better at their jobs by, for example, making them more careful about checking data. Specifically, the nurse "failed to look and read what medication he was taking failed to scan to determine the right count for the medication, failed to match the patient's ID with the scanned medication.". And if youre bad at math, get a tutor or take a course on the sort of math you need as an RN, including improving your skills in estimation---so even if you calculate wrong, youll know you made an error before administering the medication to a patient. 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. The drug, which is typically used during intubations, acts as a muscle relaxant and paralytic. Two days later, her condition improved and she was preparing to discharge from the hospital. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. Former Tennessee nurse RaDonda Vaught was convicted in the accidental death of a patient whom she injected with the wrong drug. In each installment of this daily series, I respond to a composite letter that asks for my career advice. And prosecutors tend to focus on nurses, he says, rather than physicians or hospital administrators, though he's not sure why. In each installment of this daily series, I respond to a composite letter that asks for my career advice. She was acquitted of reckless homicide. A new line of research that Dr. Wu began found that many health-care providers experience emotional trauma in the wake of a serious medical error. If you do decide you are too error-prone or are otherwise ill-suited for patient-care nursing, there are other jobs for RNs. But Vaught accidentally grabbed vecuronium, a powerful paralyzer,. Sustaining a needlestick injury or other type of exposure is scary. Im so sorry for what you have lost, she said, adding, I want you to know that I will never, ever forget my role in this.. People demonstrate outside the courthouse where the sentencing hearing for former nurse RaDonda Vaught was held in Nashville, Tenn. She said, I gave the wrong dose and shes going downhill, and its my fault, her widow, Lyn Hiatt, said. Can a nurse go to prison if they accidently gave a patient the wrong drug and it killed them, say they couldn't get to sleep the night before and they were shattered? As soon as Cathie Rea, Kims supervisor, read the note, she escorted Kim to her car and told her to leave the campus. Murpheys family, who attended the trial last week, declined to comment Friday, the Tennessean reported. All trademarks are the property of their respective trademark holders. 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. Rinse and wash the area well with running water and soap. A total of 114 residents returned the survey and admitted they had made at least one significant mistake. Murphy entered the hospital because . ", Yaffa, who said he's handled hundreds of hospital death cases in his 22 years as a lawyer, added, "The hospital just seems to be thumbing their nose to this family.". At a Board of Nursing disciplinary hearing in 2021, the ex-nurse said she overrode a cabinet safeguard that unlocked more powerful medications, then overlooked warning signs that shed selected the wrong drug. After the verdict, the American Nurses Association and Tennessee Nurses Association issued a statement that read, We are deeply distressed by this verdict and the harmful ramifications of criminalizing the honest reporting of mistakes., The nursing profession is already extremely short-staffed, strained and facing immense pressurean unfortunate multi-year trend that was further exacerbated by the effects of the pandemic, the statement added. Wash it. She was trying to give the patient, Charlene Murphey, a dose of an anti-anxiety medication, midazolam (brand name Versed), before an imaging scan during a December 2017 hospital stay, the report states. The Smith family lawyer, Andrew Yaffa, told ABCNews.com, "This is the worst case of medical neglect I have ever seen. She was also fined $3,000. Also, the patient must give consent to check blood work. "We work in environments that are fast-paced," she says. He moved the family from West Virginia to Seattle for his residency at the University of Washington when Kim was a few months old. Im wondering if its premature to have quit nursing. And when they brought her back up, she had tubes running down her throat and stuff., My dad suffers every day from this, Michael added. He remained in a vegetative state until he died a month later. Health-care workers can reach a peer responder at any hour of any day. No need to use antiseptics or disinfectants. Getting past this danger zone will require a shift in medicine, away from a culture that sees mistakes as unspeakable and toward one that recognizes that medical professionals suffer tremendously when they inadvertently run afoul of their sacred oath: First, do no harm.(new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=38cf8a01-c7b4-4a61-a61b-8c0be6528f20&cid=877050e7-52c9-4c33-a20b-d8301a08f96d'; cnxps.cmd.push(function () { cnxps({ playerId: "38cf8a01-c7b4-4a61-a61b-8c0be6528f20" }).render("6ea159e3e44940909b49c98e320201e2"); }); The best word I can use to describe that day, and really the first couple of days, is isolated, says Rick van Pelt, an anesthesiologist at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston who nearly killed a patient during a routine surgery in 1999. Of course, you might want to slow down so you can be extra careful. She has no criminal record, shes been removed from the health care setting, she will never practice nursing again. A non-punitive approach encourages transparency, she says, and "that prevents future mistakes or errors from happening.". That was April 3, 2011. Viruses begin to multiply rapidly once in the bloodstream, so preventing entry into the bloodstream in the first place is extremely important. That's murder.". Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Adult Gerontology Nurse Practitioner Programs (AGNP), Womens Health Nurse Practitioner Programs, Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), average of 385,000 sharps-related injuries, Accident/Error and Incident Prevention: NCLEX-RN. But it was bad luck that your arithmetic error turned a normal dose into a deadly one. Thats all anyone can do. It now more rigorously regulates verbal orders for medicationthe type Kim had gottenan important preventive step that leaves less room for misinterpretation. She was worried about the parents. The patient died five days after the error. And now public consequences in a criminal setting.. Rather, creating a place where health-care providers are not just allowed but also encouraged to discuss their mistakes is a huge mental leap for a system that routinely demands secrecy. Shes a 21-year-old college student who remembers tagging along with her mom to visit the hospital when she was younger. Of course, you might want to slow down so you can be extra careful. All health care mistakes even small ones should be analyzed to understand the underlying issues that caused them, Ross says. This is a story about Kim Hiatt, the mistake she made, and how she struggled with that tragedy. Vox (March 15, 2016), Copyright 2016 by Vox Media, Inc., vox.com. Kim Hiatt had worked as a nurse for 24 years when she made her first medical error: She gave a frail infant ten times the recommended dosage of a medication. They may not want to "dump" their work on others and sometimes they are afraid of discipline for reporting a sharps injury. It happens. Kim wrote the state investigators a lengthy statement about why she hoped to keep her credentials. 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. And when health care workers do make mistakes, Ross argues hospitals usually shouldn't punish staff. But it doesnt take away accountability, and I dont think that she feels she should be accountable. Despite legislation for needlestick prevention and safety measures in place, accidents do happen, and nurses need to know what to do in case of an exposure. 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. The packages for Epinephrine 1:1000 and Epinephrine 1:10,000 look very similar and were stored side by side. But on Friday, after an hours-long hearing, Davidson County Criminal Court Judge Jennifer Smith ruled that Vaught qualified for judicial diversion. Prosecutors said the unintentional drug switch-up left Murphey unable to breathe. 3 The RISE phone line is staffed with volunteer peer responders who are also health-care providers. Lyn remembered seeing Kims former colleagues and patients in attendance. Human error is inevitable, she says, and hospitals should account for that by instituting safety checks and protocols. She loved little kids. What happens if a doctor date a patient? This idea, on its own, is controversial. EmmaG, RN. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. Viruses begin to multiply rapidly once in the bloodstream, so preventing entry into the bloodstream in the first place is extremely important. It's also a good idea to flush out your . RaDonda Vaught has been sentenced to probation over the death of 75-year-old Charlene Murphey, a patient she injected with the wrong medication. It's like being in a grave and covering you up with dirt so you can't do anything.". Cristina ByvikSue Scott remembers when her first patient died. Police officer who slept with six co-workers claims she was 'sexually groomed', Imperial College Chemical Engineering Applicants 2023. Every practicing physician has either made an error or been involved in the care of a patient who has been harmed, says Dr. Wu, who directs the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Services and Outcome Research. Byviksue Scott remembers when her first patient died bloodstream in the bloodstream, so preventing entry into the bloodstream so. Health-Care workers can reach a peer responder at any hour of any.! `` that prevents future mistakes or errors from happening. `` their respective holders... 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And how she struggled with that tragedy so you ca n't do anything. `` injury or type., declined to comment Friday, after an hours-long hearing, Davidson County Criminal Judge!