Negligence showed by medical institutions’ employees can have negative consequences for patients and even cause death. Various incidents occur in hospitals, and therefore, specific elements distinguish neglect cases – the duty of care, duty breach, injury, and causation (Showalter, 2020). One recent example is the case of nurse Vaught, who was found guilty of gross neglect and negligent homicide after legal proceedings. The details of the situation clarify each element characteristic for the negligence case.
The incident that led to the proceedings occurred several years ago. RaDonda Vaught, as an employee of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, was supposed to inject a sedative for a claustrophobic patient before performing a PET scan (Kelman, 2022). However, instead of sedating Versed, she injected paralyzing vecuronium, left the patient, and by the time the error was discovered, the latter was already dead (Kelman, 2022). Vaught faces three to six years in prison, and the case has received significant publicity among nurses. They fear the circumstances may contribute to the criminalization of medical errors.
Considering specific elements, one can distinguish the following case’s features:
- Duty. The nurse had to check the medication before administration and stay with the patient to check for adverse reactions (Malone, 2022).
- Breach duties. Vaught was inattentive to the drug – she did not notice the warning sign and that the necessary medicine was liquid, and the paralyzer was powder. According to expert witness testimony, the nurse also violated nursing practice standards by leaving the patient (Malone, 2022).
- Causation and trauma. The expert identified the injected vecuronium as the cause of the patient’s death. However, the fact caused debates, and even the expert was unsure of his statement since he did not establish the amount of vecuronium (Kelman, 2022).
Thus, tort and negligence present a significant problem for health care, and in some cases, employee errors lead to litigation. The considered Vaught nurse case is an example of unintentional negligence. Given the severity of the nurse’s mistakes and their preventability, she received a fair punishment – she will no longer practice and spend some time in prison. However, the case caused a resonance among nurses, as they are afraid of the criminalization of medical errors.
References
Kelman, B. (2022). Former nurse found guilty in accidental injection death of 75-year-old patient. NPR.
Malone, P. (2022). Medical errors can be criminal, Tennesee nurse’s conviction shows. JD Supra. Web.
Showalter, J. S. (2020). The law of healthcare administration (9th ed.). Health Administration Press.