A nurse, RaDonda Vaught, was convicted of giving a patient the wrong medicine

What is the status of RaDonda’s Case?

RaDonda Vought and her attorney Peter Strianse listen as the verdicts are read at the end of a trial in Nashville, Tennessee, Friday, March 25, 2022. The jury found Vought, a former nurse, guilty of homicide for gross negligence in the death of a patient who was accidentally given the wrong drug. She was also found guilty of gross negligence towards an adult disabled person. A former Tennessee nurse is guilty of negligent homicide in connection with the death of a patient who was accidentally given the wrong drug, a jury found Friday.    

She was also found guilty of gross imprudence towards a disabled adult in a case that has attracted the attention of patient safety advocates and nursing organizations across the country. Radonda Vought, 37, administered the painkiller vecuronium to 75-year-old Charlene Murphy instead of the sedative Verced on December 26, 2017. Here openly admitted that she had made several mistakes with the drug that day, but her lawyer stood up for the nurse. Didn’t overact, and systemic problems at Vanderbilt University Medical Center were at least partly responsible for the error. The jury found Vought not guilty of negligent homicide. Negligent homicide was a minor charge included in the original indictment. 

While Vought awaited her verdict on Friday morning, she was constantly approached by local nurses who came to court to support her. Vought was calm after reading the ruling, but many of the nurses who surrounded her in the courthouse hallway were in tears. In an interview following the verdict, Voight said she was relieved to have made her decision after 4.5 years and hopes the Murphy family will feel relieved.   

“Miss Murphy’s family is at the centre of my thoughts every day,” she said. “You don’t do something that affects the family, like this, that affects life, and you don’t carry that burden.” 

Murphy was admitted to the neurointensive care unit on December 24, 2017, with a brain haemorrhage. Two days later, doctors trying to determine the cause of the bleeding ordered a PET scan to look for cancer.    

According to one account, Murphy was claustrophobic and was prescribed Versed for anxiety. When Vought could not find Verced in the medicine locker, she used a workaround and accidentally grabbed vecuronium instead.   

The state assessor argued that Voight violated the standard of care for nurses. In addition to taking the wrong medication, Donna said she didn’t read the name of the drug, didn’t notice the red warning above the medication, and didn’t stay with the patient to check for adverse reactions. Drug Legal Counsel, Nurse. Jones. Leanna Kraft, a nurse instructor in the neurocritical care unit where Vought worked, testified that at the time, nurses routinely ignored the system for obtaining medications.    

The hospital has recently upgraded its electronic registration system, resulting in delays in obtaining medicines from automatic dispensing cabinets. There wasn’t even a scanner in the imaging area so Vought could scan the drug on the patient ID bracelet.   

Assistant District Attorney Chadwick Jackson told jurors in closing deliberation, “RaDonda Vought acted recklessly, and as a result, Charlene Murphy died. Radonda Vought was responsible for taking care of Charlene Murphy and Radonda Vought there.” is that Charlene Murphy died because Radonda Voth couldn’t pay attention to what she was doing.” 

Vot said she was concerned that the verdict made other vendors “be careful about telling the truth. I don’t think the result of this is dishonest and truthful.” Before sentencing, patient safety expert Bruce Lambert said he was highly concerned that Vogt was being prosecuted for a medical error. “Not only will this ensure that nurses and physicians don’t report treatment errors, but it will force nurses out of the profession,” said Lambert, director of Northwestern University’s Center for Communication and Health.    

Before sentencing, Vought said she did not regret admitting her mistake honestly. After Vanderbilt, he felt like a scapegoat was the subject of a random audit by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. “Someone has to pay the price, and it’s straightforward to say, ‘Let me do this,'” he said.   

In the sentencing, prosecutors said it was not a previous case that would lead to further criminalization of medical error. “This is not a case against the nursing community,” Assistant District Attorney Chadwick Jackson said. “This is a case against an individual.” 

Janie Harvey Garner, founder of the nurses’ rights organization Show Me Your Stethoscope, disagrees. “What happened here is that healthcare has completely changed,” Garner said in a phone interview.    

“Now that we are telling the truth, we are incriminating ourselves.” 

Garner, who raised funds for Water’s defence, said ordinary people don’t understand how difficult and stressful a nurse’s job is. He said mistakes were expected, and what happened to Walter could happen to anyone. “The jury for his peers will be made up of all nurses in the intensive care unit,” Garner said.    

A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for May 13. Vought faces three to six years in prison for gross negligence and one to two years for manslaughter. She was released on bail and remains at large until sentencing. He said he did not consider filing an appeal. 

FAQ

What did the nurse give instead of Versed?

The nurse gave the wrong injection. She gave a 75-year-old lady the injection  of vecuronium, a paralyzing drug, instead of a sedative versed.

What happens if you give someone the wrong medications?

 If a person gives unprescribed medicines to someone. In that case, that person can face many issues like allergic reaction, drugs mix up,  organ failure, and even deathbed drug interaction.

What are the 5 rights of medications?

Everyone must know these five rights of medications.
The right patient
right drug
The right time
The Drug Approach and Right to Refuse

Who was the nurse found guilty of giving the patient the wrong medications?

RaDonda Vaught was the nurse who gave the wrong injection to a patient, so the patient died. She injected Murphey into the patient, resulting in the patient’s brain dead.

What happened to nurse RaDonda Vaught?

 On March 25, 2022, the court announced RaDonda Vaught to be sentenced to at least 8 years in prison for gross neglect of an impaired adult and negligent homicide.

Leave a Reply