RaDonda Vaught sentencing

RaDonda Vaught's conviction set a dangerous precedent for patient safety, but is also driving a push for better protections for nurses.

They held hands as they listened to a live broadcast of Judge Jennifer Smith’s decision, and erupted in cheers as the sentence was read. Nurse-to-patient ratios are an important determinant of patient safety, and bills aimed at ensuring safer staffing ratios are making their way through the House and Senate. At the National Nurses March in Washington, DC, yesterday, many of those marching expressed support for the bills. An estimated 7,000 to 9,000 people die in the US each year as a result of a medication error. But nurses and nurses unions in several states are advocating for its passage. Karen Feinstein, leader of the advocacy coalition supporting the board’s creation, said she now uses Vaught’s case as an example of why the agency is necessary. The NPSB would then make recommendations for solutions and corrective actions that would prevent further bad outcomes for patients. Mate said several hospital CEOs — for example, the leadership of Northern Virginia’s Inova Health — are trying to head off that concern by communicating directly with employees. It’s hard to know what the outcome of that outreach will be. Kedar Mate, a physician who is president of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, recalls a recent anecdotal example of the case’s potential chilling effect among medical professionals. Vaught’s case is one of several recent cases in which criminal charges were levied against nurses in settings ranging from jails to nursing homes. “They can forever now point to this person and say, ‘Wow, she is so bad,’” he said, rather than being held accountable for having a broken patient safety infrastructure. While the hospital settled a civil case out of court with Murphey’s family, it has not been held criminally liable.

A former Vanderbilt University Medical Center nurse who was recently found guilty for the death of a patient has been sentenced to three years of supervised ...

In closing statements of Vaught's trial, defense attorney Peter Strianse questioned whether prosecutors had proven, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the vecuronium injection caused Murphey’s death. Before the sentencing Friday, nurses held a rally outside of the courthouse to fight for protection from being criminally prosecuted for making medical errors while working. Murphey's son, Michael, took the witness stand Friday. Prosecutors asked him whether or not his mother would've wanted Vaught to face jail time. "This was a terrible, terrible mistake," Judge Jennifer Smith told the courtroom. When Vaught could not find Versed in an automatic drug dispensing cabinet, she used an override and accidentally grabbed vecuronium instead. She was found not guilty of reckless homicide.

A Nashville jury convicted RaDonda Vaught of criminally negligent homicide for giving a 75-year-old woman a fatal dose of the wrong medication.

"Our family is still traumatized and grieve over Mom's horrible death," the statement reads, in part. About 100 people were already at the demonstration site by 7 a.m., just outside the municipal courthouse where Vaught's sentence will occur. Nurses and health care professionals solicited statements across social media with the hope of influencing Smith's decision. Loudspeakers played the audio from the hearing. The statement that drew cheers and applause from protesters outside the courthouse. "And I try to be strong for them but at times it’s hard." "I worry this is going to have a deep impact on patient safety." “I don't think that it totally corrects the main problem of her getting criminally charged.” "Nothing that happens here today can reverse that loss and ease that pain," Smith said. Smith sentenced Vaught to three years and then diverted that sentence. And going forward, I hope it prevents this type of situation from happening again,” Smith said. "It was a good little day trip to be part of history,” she said.

A former Vanderbilt University Medical Center nurse will learn her fate on Friday for a deadly medical mistake she made in 2017.

Given the nature of the charges, Vaught will be labeled a convicted felon for the rest of her life. The state also asked Judge Smith to consider Vaught's actions, in addition to her lack of a criminal history when she hands down her sentence. Instead, she was given the paralytic drug vecuronium, which caused her to be unable to breathe. Specifically, he mentioned Vaught's interview with NewsChannel 5 where she expressed her frustration with the district attorney's office. She told the court Vaught has cried a lot over this case. Vaught was the final witness. Next, Rebecca Ray was called to the stand. Smith said she left that Vaught thought she should be rewarded for her honesty. "She'll never get over it, and she knows the family has suffered a terrible loss. RaDonda Vaught was convicted after she gave patient Charlene Murphey the wrong medication, leading to her death. Smith also testified about Vaught's perjury charge in Sumner County. Vaught is accused of lying in a background check when trying to buy a firearm. She testified that she thought Vaught was forthright, but not remorseful during her interview with the TBI after Murphey's death.

Vaught was fond guilty of criminally negligent homicide after giving Murphy the wrong medication back in 2017. Nurses at Friday's rally believe it's a wrongful ...

We don’t want to be a nurse when it means we’re a sacrificial lamb.” We don’t want to be a nurse when we’re not protected. Lindsey Cummings, a fellow nurse said, “We’re angry.

A former Tennessee nurse whose medication error killed a patient was sentenced to three years of probation Friday as hundreds of health care workers ...

Leanna Craft, a nurse educator at the neurological intensive care unit where Vaught worked, testified that it was common for nurses at that time to override the system to get drugs. The state’s expert witness argued at trial that Vaught violated the standard of care expected of nurses. Some health care workers have left bedside nursing for administrative positions, while others quit the profession altogether, saying the risk of going to prison for a mistake has made nursing intolerable. “I’m sorry that this public outpouring of support for me has caused you to continue to live this over and over,” she told them. A state judge imposed the sentence on RaDonda Vaught after she apologized to relatives of the victim, Charlene Murphey, and said she’ll be forever haunted by her mistake. The crowd of nurses outside protesting cheered, cried and hugged after hearing the sentence.

RaDonda Vaught's prosecution was widely condemned by nurses, who said it set a dangerous precedent that would worsen the nursing shortage and make them less ...

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Improving patient safety is about system change, not punishing workers who err, experts say.

Geisinger hopes that more of its senior staff will stay on if they ask them to participate in virtual, team-based care models via telehealth, Tomcavage said. They reviewed the Vaught case, described how Geisinger has handled previous incidents and explained the health system's protocols and communications strategy, Tomcavage said. The company also delivered memos on these subjects, had managers discuss workers' concerns during rounds and had its attorneys participate in nurses' meetings, she said. That includes using technology to safeguard against inevitable human errors and analyzing mistakes and near misses for opportunities to improve, he said. "It's going to have the effect of people trying to cover up their potential mistakes or near misses." The healthcare sector should follow the lead of the aviation and nuclear power industries, Schubacker said.

The punitive approach to healthcare errors in this case of a former nurse sets a dangerous precedent, driving systemic problems into the shadows and ...

Although Vaught received probation, her criminal conviction and three-year sentence may lead clinicians to think twice about such open reporting of errors. On May 13, former Vanderbilt University Medical Center nurse RaDonda Vaught was sentenced to three years of supervised probation. Vaught took responsibility for her part in the medication error and provided Vanderbilt University Medical Center with details of how it happened.

The lenient sentence was applauded by healthcare workers observing outside of the courthouse as well as major professional organizations.