RADONDA VAUGHT

RaDonda Vaught, who worked at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, faced up to eight years in prison for giving 75-year-old Charlene Murphey a fatal dose of the wrong medication in December 2017.

Hundreds of health care workers rallied outside the courthouse ahead of the decision, warning that criminalizing such mistakes will lead to more deaths in hospitals.

Former nurse found guilty in patient’s death (ncd)NASHVILLE, Tenn. — RaDonda Vaught, the former Tennessee nurse whose medication error killed a patient more than four years ago, was sentenced to three years of probation on Friday. In March, Vaught was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and gross neglect of an impaired adult, WTVF reported. Nashville Criminal Court Judge Jennifer Smith imposed the sentence after Vaught apologized to Charlene Murphey’s relatives, the television station reported. pic.twitter.com/oaxX5OeFXT — Tennessean (@Tennessean) May 13, 2022“I’ll be forever haunted by my role in her untimely passing,” Vaught told the woman’s family in court. Mom was a very forgiving person.”“We didn’t want jail time,” Murphey’s daughter-in-law, Chandra Murphey, told reporters outside the Davidson County court.

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 forthcoming about admitting mistakes.

"Never in my 14 years have I felt so helpless," said a Texas ER nurse outside courthouse. "This could be me."

Nurses planned to protest on Friday, May 13, morning outside the courtroom where Vaught was scheduled to be sentenced for the death of a patient. Vaught was found guilty in March of criminally negligent homicide and gross neglect of an impaired adult after she accidentally administered the wrong medication. The sentencing comes a day after International Nurses Day, and some nurses were driving from a march for better working conditions in Washington D.C. on Thursday to the sentencing in Nashville. Nurses plan to gather two hours before the scheduled morning start of the sentencing hearing. At the nurse's trial, an expert witness for the state argued that Vaught violated the standard of care expected of nurses.

A former Tennessee nurse whose medication error killed a patient has been sentenced to three years of probation.

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. 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. Vaught was found guilty in March of criminally negligent homicide and gross neglect of an impaired adult after she accidentally administered the wrong medication.

The former Tennessee nurse faces prison time for a fatal medication mistake. Reaction from her peers was swift and fierce on social media and beyond ― and it isn't over.

The jury found Vaught, a former nurse, guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the death of a patient who was accidentally given the wrong medication. Last week, a jury found her guilty of criminally negligent homicide and gross neglect. After the guilty verdict, the two candidates hoping to replace Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk issued their own statements condemning the prosecution. Candidate Sara Beth Myers issued a statement vowing not to criminally charge medical professionals "for mistakes that amount to civil malpractice." Funk said that Vaught’s homicide conviction means she will never practice medicine again, which is what Murphey’s family wanted.

The homicide conviction of a former Tennessee nurse for a medication error that killed a patient has become a flashpoint in the campaign for Nashville district attorney.

Vaught admitted the error as soon as she realized it, and the state medical board initially took no action against her. Within hours, she made a full report of her mistake to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The move to a “Just Culture" seeks to improve safety by analyzing human errors and making systemic changes to prevent their recurrence. “The criminalization of medical errors is unnerving, and this verdict sets into motion a dangerous precedent,” the American Nurses Association said. Who is going to replace them?” said Bruce Lambert, patient safety expert and director of the Center for Communication and Health at Northwestern University.

The verdict worries nursing groups that have worked for years to move hospital culture away from cover-ups, blame and punishment.

Vaught admitted the error as soon as she realized it, and the state medical board initially took no action against her. Within hours, she made a full report of her mistake to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The move to a “Just Culture" seeks to improve safety by analyzing human errors and making systemic changes to prevent their recurrence. “The criminalization of medical errors is unnerving, and this verdict sets into motion a dangerous precedent,” the American Nurses Association said. Who is going to replace them?” said Bruce Lambert, patient safety expert and director of the Center for Communication and Health at Northwestern University.

Patient safety and nursing groups around the country are lamenting the guilty verdict in the trial of a former nurse in Tennessee.

"Now when we tell the truth, we're incriminating ourselves," said the leader of a nurse advocacy organization.

Former nurse found guilty in patient’s death RaDonda Vaught and her attorney Peter Strianse listen as verdicts are read at the end of her trial in Nashville, Tenn., on Friday, March 25, 2022. The jury found Vaught, a former nurse, guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the death of a patient who was accidentally given the wrong medication. Murphey died in 2017 after she was injected with the incorrect drug, USA Today reported. Instead, Vaught was accused of injecting Murphey with vecuronium, a paralytic which left her unable to breathe, USA Today reported. Vaught’s attorney argued the mistake was just that, and not a conscious act of homicide, USA Today reported.

RaDonda Vaught's conviction could lead to years in prison. It's a rare case of a medical mistake being deemed a crime, and many worry it will have a chilling effect on the entire nursing profession.

(Stephanie Amador/The Tennessean via AP, Pool) (Stephanie Amador)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, 37, injected the paralyzing drug vecuronium into 75-year-old Charlene Murphey instead of the sedative Versed on Dec. 26, 2017. 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. Assistant District Attorney Chadwick Jackson told the jury in closing arguments, “RaDonda Vaught acted recklessly, and Charlene Murphey died as a result of that. RaDonda Vaught had a duty of care to Charlene Murphey and RaDonda Vaught neglected that.

A former Tennessee nurse has been found guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the accidental death of a patient because of a medication error.

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, 37, 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.

Nashville nurse RaDonda Vaught is on trial for reckless homicide for giving the wrong medication to a patient at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Vaught was charged with reckless homicide for accidentally administering the paralyzing drug vecuronium to 75-year-old Charlene Murphey instead of the sedative Versed in December on Dec. 26, 2017. Vaught admitted the error as soon as she realized it, and the state medical board initially took no action against her. RaDonda Vaught, 37, is facing a charge of reckless homicide for administering the drug vecuronium to 75-year-old Charlene Murphey instead of the sedative Versed on Dec. 26, 2017. Vaught could not find Versed in an automatic drug dispensing cabinet because it was listed under the generic name midazolam. Vaught left the imaging area after injecting the drug, but minutes later another employee noticed Murphey was unresponsive.

The attorney for a former Tennessee nurse on trial in the death of a patient accidentally injected with a paralyzing drug told jurors the woman is being blamed for systemic problems at the medical center where she had worked.

The attorney for a former Tennessee nurse on trial in the death of a patient accidentally injected with a paralyzing drug told jurors Tuesday the woman is being blamed for systemic problems at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. RaDonda Vaught, 37, is facing a charge of reckless homicide for administering the drug vecuronium to 75-year-old Charlene Murphey instead of the sedative Versed on Dec. 26, 2017. Murphey had been admitted to the hospital two days earlier after developing a headache and losing vision in one eye.

Former nurse RaDonda Vaught is on trial for reckless homicide, and her case raises consequential questions about how nurses use computerized medication-dispensing cabinets.