- 31 Mar 2022 03:19
#15220153
A nurse was criminally convicted because she accidentally administered the wrong medication which ended up causing that patient's death.
But criminally punishing nurses for mistakes could lead to the death of more patients.
If a nurse realizes that she has made a mistake, by reporting the mistake it could save the life of the patient. The doctors would immediately know what was wrong and how to try to treat the patient.
But if a nurse fears there may be criminal charges for her mistake, she might choose not to immediately tell anyone. If she doesn't tell anyone, they might not find out what caused the patient to die, or they might not know who it was who administered the medication.
Should nurses really be criminally punished for mistakes?
And even if punishing them means more patients will die who otherwise might not?
"
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 and told them what she had done. Within hours, she made a full report of her mistake to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Murphey died the next day, on December 27, 2017. A jury found Vaught guilty of criminally negligent homicide and gross neglect.
That verdict - and the fact that Vaught was charged at all - worries patient safety and nursing groups that have worked for years to move hospital culture away from cover-ups, blame and punishment, and toward the honest reporting of mistakes.
"
Nurses: Guilty verdict for dosing mistake could cost lives - ABC News (go.com), Travis Loller, March 30, 2022
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory ... had%20done.
But criminally punishing nurses for mistakes could lead to the death of more patients.
If a nurse realizes that she has made a mistake, by reporting the mistake it could save the life of the patient. The doctors would immediately know what was wrong and how to try to treat the patient.
But if a nurse fears there may be criminal charges for her mistake, she might choose not to immediately tell anyone. If she doesn't tell anyone, they might not find out what caused the patient to die, or they might not know who it was who administered the medication.
Should nurses really be criminally punished for mistakes?
And even if punishing them means more patients will die who otherwise might not?
"
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 and told them what she had done. Within hours, she made a full report of her mistake to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Murphey died the next day, on December 27, 2017. A jury found Vaught guilty of criminally negligent homicide and gross neglect.
That verdict - and the fact that Vaught was charged at all - worries patient safety and nursing groups that have worked for years to move hospital culture away from cover-ups, blame and punishment, and toward the honest reporting of mistakes.
"
Nurses: Guilty verdict for dosing mistake could cost lives - ABC News (go.com), Travis Loller, March 30, 2022
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory ... had%20done.