The point is they worked together to conceal the gross negligence and disregard for human life that caused Mr. Dempsey to die on that night,Canavan said. "This is an excruciating case for nurses, because it is so abundantly clear that the conditions under which this particular nurse was working made it impossible for her to practice in a manner that ensured patient safety," Patricia Pittman, PhD, of the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University, told MedPage Today via email. [ Read: 10 Ways for NPs to Manage Stress ], She says that Nurses are terrified, and every nurse has made a medication error. Brown also calls the decision another agitation factor on the list of things nurses are often not happy about. "But it's really unfortunate that she even got prosecuted in the way that she did, and it's concerning.". "It's been a long road. In weighing whether to grant Vaught judicial diversion, Smith cited Vaughts remorse as well as her honesty about the medication error. Vaught admitted making several errors that led to the fatal injection, but her defense attorney argued that systemic problems at Vanderbilt University Medical Center were at least partly to blame. It also stirred up an emotional response from the nations nursing community and added fuel to the career discontent fire. This is not a case against the nursing community, said Assistant District Attorney Chadwick Jackson. Her condition appeared to improve and she was moved out of the highest ICU level, but doctors ordered she receive a PET scan to look for the cause of the brain bleed before she could be released. That includes a 33-year-old woman, both of her 2-year-old twins, a 13-year-old and a 10-year-old boy. But nearly a year after the event, an anonymous tip, a surprise inspection and state and federal investigations led to threatened sanctions for VUMC and a criminal indictment for Vaught. Garner, who has been helping to raise money for Vaughts defense, said ordinary people dont understand how difficult and stressful working as a nurse can be. As to nurse rumblings about career changes, Brown says 16 nurses have approached her about career changes recently. What hes done to these families didnt faze him at all.. 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 Dec. 26, 2017. By TRAVIS LOLLER March 25, 2022. "And I try to be strong for them but at times its hard.". The move to a Just Culture" seeks to improve safety by analyzing human errors and making systemic changes to prevent their recurrence. Opens in a new tab or window, Visit us on Instagram. The DAs office points to this action as central to Vaughts reckless homicide charge, but she and other nurses say overrides are a normal operating procedure used daily at hospitals. The hospital had recently updated an electronic records system, which led to delays in retrieving medications from the automatic drug dispensing cabinets. Prosecutors say Vaught made multiple errors that day and recklessly ignored her training. The state claims she failed to immediately start CPR when she first arrived at Dempseys bedside, too. Vaught has been free on bail and remains free until after she is sentenced. Vaught apologized to the family in court, saying words will never fully express her remorse and sorrow., Ill be forever haunted by my role in her untimely passing, she said. Ms. Former nurse RaDonda Vaught on Friday was found guilty of negligent homicide after she injected a 75-year-old woman with the wrong medication, resulting in her death. At Gray, our journalists report, write, edit and produce the news content that informs the communities we serve. A grand jury indicted Agyeman in 2018 with felony murder, which would have carried a potential life sentence. Im an RN as well, she said. RaDonda Vaught case: Should nurses be charged with crimes for - Vox But such bad outcomes remain stubbornly common, with too many hospital staffers convinced that owning up to mistakes will expose them to punishment, according to a 2018 study published in the American Journal of Medical Quality. Ex-nurse found guilty of criminally negligent homicide in - WEAU Im sorry that this public outpouring of support for me has caused you to continue to live this over and over, she told them. Vaught was calm after the verdict was read, but several of the nurses who surrounded her in the courthouse hallway were in tears. Former nurse found guilty in accidental injection death of 75-year-old She pleaded guilty to concealing the death of another and neglect of an elder person and depriving an elder person of essential services. There was also no scanner in the imaging area for Vaught to scan the medication against the patient's ID bracelet. ATLANTA Two metro Atlanta nurses are headed to prison and another is on probation for failing to save a dying man seen begging for help on a hidden camera video nearly eight years ago. Murphey had complained of feeling anxious ahead of the scan and was ordered 2 mg of IV versed. She said it wasn't easy to stand before the Murphey family, knowing what they have gone through over the past four and a half years, and ask for the court's leniency. There are good people in this world.. Two days later, doctors trying to determine the cause of the bleed ordered a PET scan to check for cancer. Someone has to pay a price, and its really easy to say, Just let her do it, she said. Assistant District Attorney Brittani Flatt quoted from her interview with a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agent in closing arguments: I definitely should have paid more attention. Prosecutors said Vaught ignored tell-tale symptoms in her patient that indicated shed dispensed the wrong medication, and that she did not accurately monitor the patient after she gave the injection. "Saying I'm sorry doesnt seem like enough but you deserve to hear that and know that I am very sorry for what happened," Vaught told the Murphey family, who sat quietly and nodded along. In court Friday, the family spoke about the pain and hurt they have gone through since Murphey's death. Im just so passionate about it. Still, not every nurse feels the same way about the Vaught verdict, says Williamsand not everyone is so upset they want to leave right now. Former Vanderbilt nurse found guilty of criminally negligent homicide Fraleigh, who also teaches nursing students, worries that this kind of case is sending the wrong message to his students about accountability and honesty when it comes to reporting medical errors. This is not a case against the nursing community, said Assistant District Attorney Chadwick Jackson. RaDonda Vaught, a former Vanderbilt University Medical Center nurse charged in the death of a patient, listens to opening statements during her trial in Nashville, Tenn., on Tuesday, March 22. This could be any of us., Vaught was steeped in the idea of Just Culture and says she has zero regrets about telling the truth, but her candor was used against her at trial. This will not only cause nurses and doctors to not report medication errors, it will cause nurses to leave the profession," said Lambert, director of the Center for Communication and Health at Northwestern University. A jury in Tyler, Texas, handed up the sentence on Wednesday in the capital murder case of the former nurse, William Davis, eight days after convicting him. But Vaught said she is no longer a nurse and doesn't pose a threat to the public. A Nurse's Homicide and Abuse Convictions Cause Nurses to Quit Most hospitals used to encourage care professionals to report mistakes, and theyd use the data to inform decisions and improve processes., Now, given whats transpired with Vaught, that culture of enhancing a safe environment could be at risk. "This was a terrible, terrible mistake," Smith said. And she had wasted no time reporting her error. They also held a moment of silence to remember Charlene Murphey. A petition on Change.org currently has more than 212,000 signatures to Grant RaDonda Vaught Clemency. A Facebook group in support of her has 12,700 members. Vaught worked at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, and in December 2017, made a medication error that resulted in a 75-year-old patients death. RaDonda Vaught, the Tennessee nurse convicted after a medical error led to a patient's death, was sentenced to 3 years of supervised probation, evading a possible prison sentence of up to 8 years. After Vaughts conviction, some nurses said they were quitting when the last thing healthcare needs is more nurses abandoning their careers. But California nurse Scott Shelp told the TV station that this [is an] opportunity to recommit ourselves to the profession.. RaDonda Vaught's trial has ended. This timeline of the case explains Vaught received concurrent sentences of 3 years probation for the adult abuse charge and 2 years probation for the reckless homicide charge. 2020: Georgia Supreme Court ruled the video can be used in the case. My feeling is that if you take care of the people you have, those people will take care of your patients, she says. Vaught attempted to retrieve the medication. Vaught's crying intensified with those words. A Tennessee jury has found former nurse RaDonda Vaught guilty of criminally negligent homicide over a December 2017 incident in which she injected a patient with the wrong drug, a paralyzing. A combination of factors that has several nurses on the verge of leaving the profession. A nurse for 22 years, Williams says she tries to keep her ear to the ground. ", "Even if we get a patient that we've done everything we can right for, and they die, those patients, they're still with you. 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. This is a case against one individual.. RaDonda Vaught, 37, injected the paralyzing drug vecuronium into 75-year-old Charlene Murphey instead of the sedative Versed on Dec. 26, 2017. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) A former Tennessee nurse whose medication error killed a patient was sentenced to three years of probation Friday as hundreds of health care workers rallied outside the courthouse, warning that criminalizing such mistakes will lead to more deaths in hospitals. Ms. Instead of checking his vitals, a hidden camera installed by Dempseys family captured Agyeman telling him to stop pressing his call button for help and then leaving the room. The case of Tennessee nurse RaDonda Vaught, who faces criminal charges of reckless homicide and felony abuse of an impaired adult for the killing of 75-year-old Charlene Murphey after she accidentally administered the wrong drug to her. A nurse in North Carolina has been charged with murder over what a prosecutor said were lethal doses of insulin given to two patients in January. In December 2017, Murphey was admitted to the facility after suffering a brain bleed, the AP reported. Vaught faces three to six years in prison on the gross neglect conviction and one to two years on the criminally negligent homicide conviction. You think, I would never do that., Williams thinks the voice of the medical mistake is screaming louder. 2001-2023 Everyday Health, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. She felt she was being scapegoated after Vanderbilt became the subject of a surprise inspection by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Update: RaDonda Vaught Sentenced to 3 Years Supervised Probation 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. The sentencing was a victory for Vaught on a personal level, but he cautioned that this should not be seen as victory for nurses around the country. They look at it as a job, and it used to be a profession. The Georgia Supreme Court disagreed, which allowed the video to be used during a trial. A patient fell and hit his head and ultimately died, and the nurse falsified records. Speaking at the Friday hearing, Michael Murphey spoke of the toll his mothers death has had on the family. Health care delivery is highly complex. A jury in Tyler, Texas, handed up the sentence on Wednesday in the capital murder case of the former nurse, William Davis, eight days after convicting him. Shannon Firth contributed reporting to this story. Im human. Emma Moore, a Portland, Oregon nurse, told NPR she was already feeling overwhelmed and undertrained, and said the Vaught verdict spurred her on to quit. The courts decision also created case law, making it now legal for families to place hidden cameras inside of their loved ones nursing home rooms. She erroneously dispensed that from an electronic medication cabinet after implementing an override. Traveling Nurse Charged With Six Counts of Murder After High-Speed Crash 'CATASTROPHIC DAMAGE' Nicole Linton faces 90 years in prison after prosecutors said her Mercedes sped through a red. The family of the dead woman, Ajike Owens, 35, a mother of four, had asked for a murder charge, which would be . Vaught has taken criticism for her failure to catch the mistake at several points before Murphey was injected and for leaving Murphey in the care of scan technicians and not personally monitoring her vitals after giving the medication. Tell us where we should look inside here. The number one issue has been the pandemicand healthcare professionals have not caught a break.. After Vaught was found guilty in March, health care workers began posting to social media that there were leaving bedside nursing for administrative positions, or even quitting the profession altogether. Assistant District Attorney Chadwick Jackson told the jury in closing arguments, RaDonda Vaught acted recklessly, and Charlene Murphey died as a result of that. As Vaught waited for the verdict on Friday morning, she was continuously approached by local nurses who had come to the courthouse to support her. The employers culture is paramount. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) A former Tennessee nurse is guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the death of a patient who was accidentally given the wrong medication, a jury found Friday. RaDonda Vaught verdict: Vanderbilt ex-nurse found guilty on 2 charges Vaught wasfound guilty in Marchof criminally negligent homicide and gross neglect of an impaired adult after she accidentally administered the wrong medication. Friday morning the judge set a date to determine whether or not detectives can go through her phone. The Vaught case has created more tensions and stress within the workplace., But theres another side. The immutable fact of this case is that Charlene Murphey is dead because RaDonda Vaught couldnt pay attention to what she was doing., Vaught said she is concerned that the verdict with cause other providers to be wary about coming forward to tell the truth. She was also found guilty of gross neglect of an impaired adult in a case that has fixed the attention of patient safety advocates and nurses organizations around the country. At nurse RaDonda Vaught's trial, testimony points to Vanderbilt's - NPR District Attorney Glenn Funk stands by the decision to prosecute. The sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 13. Murphy was a patient at Nashville's Vanderbilt University Medical Center when Vaughn inadvertently injected Murphy with. Nurses see that. Brown, RN, MN, JD of Brown Law Office, PC in Indianapolis, and immediate past president of The American Association of Nurse Attorneys. She . Murphey's son, Michael, and two of her daughters-in-law, Rhonda and Chandra, gave tearful testimonies, through which Vaught also cired. "I think 3 years' probation was best-case scenario. I dont think the take-away from this is not to be honest and truthful.. Mr. Putman said that prosecutors and the police wouldnt have been able to build a case against Mr. Davis without the hospitals cooperation. Murphey was claustrophobic and was prescribed Versed for her anxiety, according to testimony. Lawyers for a California nurse charged with murder after a fiery car Thats just Mom. Brown invites comparisons between Vaughts situation and another of which shes aware. In addition to grabbing the wrong medicine, she failed to read the name of the drug, did not notice a red warning on the top of the medication, and did not stay with the patient to check for an adverse reaction, said nurse legal consultant Donna Jones.