Post by Admin on Apr 1, 2022 17:43:48 GMT
A former Tennessee nurse has been found guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the death of a patient who was accidentally given the wrong medication, a jury found. RaDonda Vaught, 37, was also found guilty Friday 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.
Vaught injected the paralyzing drug vecuronium into 75-year-old Charlene Murphey instead of the sedative Versed on Dec. 26, 2017. Vaught freely admitted to making several errors with the medication that day, but her defense attorney argued the nurse was not acting outside of the norm and systemic problems at Vanderbilt University Medical Center were at least partly to blame for the error.
The jury found Vaught not guilty of reckless homicide. Criminally neglent homicide was a lesser charge included under the original charge.
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. Vaught was calm after the verdict was read, but several of the nurses who surrounded her in the courthouse hallway were in tears.
Interviewed after the verdict, Vaught said she was relieved to have a resolution after 4 1/2 years and hopes Murphey's family is relieved as well.
"Ms. Murphey's family is at the forefront of my thoughts every day," she said. "You don't do something that impacts a family like this, that impacts a life, and not carry that burden with you."
RaDonda Vaught found guilty of criminally negligent homicide in death of patient by NewsChannel 5 on YouTube
Murphey had been admitted to the neurological intensive care unit on Dec. 24, 2017, after suffering from a brain bleed. Two days later, doctors trying to determine the cause of the bleed ordered a PET scan to check for cancer. Murphey was claustrophobic and was prescribed Versed for her anxiety, according to testimony. When Vaught could not find Versed in an automatic drug dispensing cabinet, she used an override and accidentally grabbed vecuronium instead.
An expert witness for the state argued that Vaught violated the standard of care expected of nurses. 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.
Vaught injected the paralyzing drug vecuronium into 75-year-old Charlene Murphey instead of the sedative Versed on Dec. 26, 2017. Vaught freely admitted to making several errors with the medication that day, but her defense attorney argued the nurse was not acting outside of the norm and systemic problems at Vanderbilt University Medical Center were at least partly to blame for the error.
The jury found Vaught not guilty of reckless homicide. Criminally neglent homicide was a lesser charge included under the original charge.
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. Vaught was calm after the verdict was read, but several of the nurses who surrounded her in the courthouse hallway were in tears.
Interviewed after the verdict, Vaught said she was relieved to have a resolution after 4 1/2 years and hopes Murphey's family is relieved as well.
"Ms. Murphey's family is at the forefront of my thoughts every day," she said. "You don't do something that impacts a family like this, that impacts a life, and not carry that burden with you."
RaDonda Vaught found guilty of criminally negligent homicide in death of patient by NewsChannel 5 on YouTube
Murphey had been admitted to the neurological intensive care unit on Dec. 24, 2017, after suffering from a brain bleed. Two days later, doctors trying to determine the cause of the bleed ordered a PET scan to check for cancer. Murphey was claustrophobic and was prescribed Versed for her anxiety, according to testimony. When Vaught could not find Versed in an automatic drug dispensing cabinet, she used an override and accidentally grabbed vecuronium instead.
An expert witness for the state argued that Vaught violated the standard of care expected of nurses. 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.
about her tragic mistake that left a patient dead and the unprecedented criminal charges and conviction that followed.