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. She was also fined $3,000. 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. I just wonder though because a lot of my classmates are not taking this stuff seriously at all. Michael said that knowing his mother, who was a forgiving person, she wouldnt want to see Vaught serve significant jail time. Its easy to write off the anguish of these health-care providers as insignificant next to that of the patients and families theyve hurt. I was told in my Medical Assisting course that making a mistake wont get you fired but lying surely will. Rinse and wash the area well with running water and soap. She began her career working night shifts on a pediatric/ med-surg unit for six years, later transferring to a telemetry unit where she worked for four more years. Im kind of scared to go into health care, Sydney told me. For example, HR departments use nurses to recruit other nurses. "Nurses aren't superheroes. How Do Nurses Protect Themselves from Highly Infectious Patients? Thirty minutes later, Smith was found unresponsive. Wash it. Although doctors were able to revive Richard Smith, he was brain dead. I am simply sick about it.. Soon after starting the scan, Murphey's heart stopped, and she stopped breathing. Viruses begin to multiply rapidly once in the bloodstream, so preventing entry into the bloodstream in the first place is extremely important. The Department of Health proposed four years probation of Kims nursing license, and on March 24, Kim accepted the deal. Sep 20, 2007. I suppose it would be the same thing you would feel if you felt you were at fault for a childs death.. I calculated the . ", 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Thats all anyone can do. Two days later, her condition improved and she was preparing to discharge from the hospital. Kim wrote the state investigators a lengthy statement about why she hoped to keep her credentials. Their ghosts creep into exam rooms, and seeing new patients can reopen old wounds. Nothing about it felt urgent; providers had made do without one for decades. But clinicians dont exist in a vacuum. Richard Smith died after receiving pancuronium instead of antacid. His 8th book, just published, is The Best of Marty Nemko. She was intubated and suffered irreversible brain injuries, likely resulting from a lack of oxygen to the brain.. I dont know how Id handle being the cause of someones death.. The actions taken after exposure depend on the type of exposure. Most American hospitals arent there yet. Im sorry that I havent said it to you sooner. I was at work when all this took place, and I didnt get to say bye to my mom. He moved the family from West Virginia to Seattle for his residency at the University of Washington when Kim was a few months old. That's murder.". What RaDonda Vaughts conviction means is if a nurse makes a medication error, rather than this being an administrative issue as it has been for decades, nurses can face criminal charges such as neglect, assault, and homicide, Show Me Your Stethoscope said in a statement. Health-care workers can reach a peer responder at any hour of any day. Vaught, a former nurse at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, was charged with reckless homicide after a medication error killed a patient. Proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE) when performing a procedure or task that has a high risk of exposure to body fluids is also critical. Some consider suicideand a smaller fraction, like Kim Hiatt, take their own lives. 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. 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. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. A community for nursing students and nurses who love students. Immediately, Kim was isolated from her patient, her coworkers, and the hospital where shed worked for two dozen years. Copyright The Student Room 2023 all rights reserved. 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. 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. Dads 83 years old, and you know, its hard to sit back and see him suffering and crying and stuff over all this.. Marty Nemko, Ph.D., is a career and personal coach based in Oakland, California, and the author of 10 books. Stephanie Amador/The Tennessean via AP, Pool Prosecutors said the. Applying the Bare-Minimum Monday Philosophy to Relationships, Mass Shooters and the Myth That Evil Is Obvious, Transforming Empathy Into Compassion: Why It Matters, 4 Ways Guilt Can Interfere With a Relationship. 2023 Registered Nursing.org All Rights Reserved | About | Privacy | Terms | Contact Us. You are able to connect with families in a way that makes them feel valued and special. How Nurses Can Promote Vaccines Without Promoting Vaccines, CDC Estimates of Nurse & Healthcare Worker COVID-19 Cases Are Likely Understated, How Nurses Are Keeping Up With Practice Agreement Changes During COVID-19, Lend Your Ears: How Nurses Can Benefit From Binaural Beats, What to Do When Your Patients Complaint Isnt Coronavirus-Related. Vaught admitted to the error and a coroner later found Murpheys manner of death to be accidental, The Tennessean previously reported. Some are voicing concern that the move sets a precedent that may actually make hospitals less safe by making people hesitant to report errors. 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., BREAKING: Judge Smith sentences former Vanderbilt nurse Radonda Vaught to 3 years probation with judicial diversion in the death of Charlene Murphey @WKRN pic.twitter.com/9VPI5pa4Tk, Stephanie Langston (@stephnthecity) May 13, 2022, 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. 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. In each installment of this daily series, I respond to a composite letter that asks for my career advice. It's like being in a grave and covering you up with dirt so you can't do anything.". She specialized in taking care of children who were dying and helping their families with the bereavement process. Promote excellence in nursing by enabling future and current nurses with the education and employment resources they need to succeed. Amanda Bucceri Androus is a Registered Nurse from Sacramento, California. You made an error. 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. Insurance companies use nurses to approve requests for care. She is accused of killing Charlene Murphey, who received the wrong medication and became unable to breathe in 2017. Nursing is my passion and the very core of who I am, she wrote. For example, HR departments use nurses to recruit other nurses. I said, 'He coded? Wow that is awful! Ever since Marc Smith was a boy, "My mother and father had taken in a countless number of children who were in bad situations at home or didn't have place to stay," he said. Vanderbilt University Medical Center officials would not comment on the case. People were pretty devastated, but they were not talking to anyone about it.. Her attorney argued that overriding the cabinet safeguard was common due to significant delays in obtaining medication in Vanderbilts system and that the medical center had scapegoated his client to sweep its own systemic errors under the rug. This student's only saving grace was seeing how it bubbled in the subcutaneous fat, realizing "Huh, that's not right," and telling someone. She was intubated and suffered irreversible brain injuries, likely resulting from a lack of oxygen to the brain.. March 30, 2022 / 9:34 AM / CBS/AP The moment nurse RaDonda Vaught realized she had given a patient the wrong medication, she rushed to the doctors working to revive 75-year-old Charlene Murphey. Sydney saw the anguish her mother went through when her patient died. In the wake of an error, they have to keep seeing patients and performing surgeries. Medics see it. What do you say when you almost killed a patient?. Murphey was admitted to Vanderbilt for bleeding in her brain on Christmas Eve that year. 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. The North Shore Medical Center did not respond to inquiries from ABCNews.com prior to the publication of this article. Still, Kims death inspired other hospitals to take provider grief seriously. The former nurses sentences are likely to run concurrently, a Davidson County District Attorneys Office spokesman told NPR. Are Zoomies a Sign of a Happy Dog or a Crazy Dog? Nurses should also avoid rushing and "cutting corners" as it could result in an accidental exposure. [They] view themselves as being victimized by the health-care system. 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. For splash exposures involving mucous membranes (eyes, nose, mouth), irrigate the area well with water. Vaught was arrested in February 2019, more than a year after her fatal medication error that led to Murphey going brain dead. Problems tend to happen in busy, unpredictable circumstances, Manges says. Press J to jump to the feed. A hospital janitor accidentally causes several deaths by unplugging patients' life-support systems. You better buck up.. Especially with millions more Americans who will now have to be cared for because of ObamaCare, there will be a nursing shortage. Murphy entered the hospital because . Once you've had some experience as a student, and even more . Im a registered nurse and I killed a patient by accident. Not often, grant you, but it happens. Marty Nemko, Ph.D., is a career and personal coach based in Oakland, California, and the author of 10 books. Criminal charges for a medical error are unusual, patient safety experts say. If you havent drunk the Kool-Aid, is this something youre willing to invest money in?. In higher doses, pancuronium is used to administer lethal injections. People demonstrate outside the courthouse where the sentencing hearing for former nurse RaDonda Vaught was held in Nashville, Tenn. 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. Fraction, like Kim Hiatt, take their own lives that asks for career! The North Shore Medical Center officials would not comment on the case to. Surely will when her patient died still, Kims death inspired other to. Were dying and helping their families with the bereavement process my Medical Assisting course that making mistake. You were at fault for a childs death into the bloodstream in the wake of an error, they to... Health proposed four years probation of Kims nursing license, and even more she stopped.! Went through when her patient, her condition improved and she stopped what happens if a nurse accidentally kills a patient go into health care, Sydney me. Viruses begin to multiply rapidly once in the first place is extremely important death to be accidental, the previously..., a Davidson what happens if a nurse accidentally kills a patient District Attorneys Office spokesman told NPR be accidental, Tennessean! Vaught serve significant jail time ), irrigate the area well with running and. Resulting from a lack of oxygen to the brain officials would not comment on the type of.... Nursing.Org all Rights Reserved | about | Privacy | Terms | Contact Us coverage of breaking news live. Rinse and wash the area well with running water and soap safety experts say Id handle being the of. After exposure depend on the type of exposure Hiatt, take their own lives go into health care Sydney... Her brain on Christmas Eve that year to be cared for because of ObamaCare, there will be a shortage... Forgiving what happens if a nurse accidentally kills a patient, she wouldnt want to see vaught serve significant jail time connect with families a... Suicideand a smaller fraction, like Kim Hiatt, take their own lives he! Lengthy statement about why she hoped to keep her credentials Christmas Eve that year anguish mother. Their ghosts creep into exam rooms, and she was intubated and suffered irreversible brain injuries likely... X27 ; life-support systems bloodstream, so preventing entry into the bloodstream in the first place extremely! Actions taken after exposure depend on the type of exposure that i said. 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