What happens if a nurse makes a medication error?

Consequences for the nurse For a nurse who makes a medication error, consequences may include disciplinary action by the state board of nursing, job dismissal, mental anguish, and possible civil or criminal charges.

What happened to RaDonda Vaught?

RaDonda Vaught, a former Vanderbilt nurse criminally indicted for accidentally killing a patient with a medication error in 2017, was stripped of her license by the Tennessee Board of Nursing on Friday at a contentious and at times tearful medical discipline hearing.

Should medical errors be criminalized?

Criminalizing human error is a deterrent to error reporting, learning from errors, and error prevention. As a result, unsafe systems may be perpetuated rather than improved. Criminalization does not prevent human error, nor do safety procedures prevent intentionally harmful or reckless behavior.

How can nurses prevent medication errors?

To safeguard against medication errors, nurses must implement the proper procedures for medication administration, including at least these five rights: right patient, drug, dose, route, and time. In addition, they must complete accurate documentation once the patient receives the medication.

When a nurse is prosecuted for a fatal medical mistake does it make medicine safer?

Should A Nurse’s Fatal Medical Error Be Prosecuted? : Shots – Health News A nurse was charged with reckless homicide and abuse after mistakenly giving a patient a fatal dose of the wrong medicine. Patient safety experts say this may actually make hospitals less safe.

What happens after medication error?

Some medication errors change a patient’s outcome, but the change does not result in any harm. Other medication errors have the potential to cause harm, but they do not actually cause harm. Serious medication errors that are not intercepted, however, will actually harm the patient.

What makes a nurse at risk for making a medical error?

For new nurses, the most common cause of errors with medication is a lack of ‘presence of mind’, as well as nerves and pressure. Studies have shown that administration errors can account for anywhere up to 32\% of medication errors.

What mistakes can nurses make?

Here are a few of the most common nursing mistakes:

• Forgetting to turn on the bed alarm for a patient at high risk for falls.
• Incorrectly programming an IV pump resulting in underdosing or overdosing.
• Failing to report a change in a patient’s condition.
• Medication errors.
• Inaccurate documentation.

Why do nurses go to jail?

A misdemeanor is a crime, less serious than a felony, punishable by no more than 1 year in jail. Other crimes for which nurses could be charged include elder/dependent adult abuse, drug possession/use, and breach of privacy, that is, snooping in charts or revealing patient information.

Can a nurse get fired for a med error?

That is, a nurse cannot be terminated for cause unless there has been willful mis- conduct or intentional dis- regard of the employer’s interests. Nurses sometimes commit medication errors. Medica- tion errors always have a potential to harm patients and sometimes do harm the patient.

Can a nurse be charged with murder for a medical error?

A former nurse at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., was arrested and charged with reckless homicide and abuse in February for making a medical mistake that resulted in an elderly patient’s death. Criminal charges for a medical error are unusual, patient safety experts say.

What does radonda Vaught do for a living?

Radonda Vaught, an ex-Vanderbilt nurse, was indicted for reckless homicide for a patient death. She also appears to own a hunting apparel company with her husband. A former nurse at Vanderbilt University Medical Center was charged with reckless homicide last week because of a medication error that killed an elderly patient in 2017.

What did radradonda Vaught do wrong?

Radonda Vaught allegedly ignored several safety precautions that were intended to prevent medication mix-ups, according to the Davidson County District Attorney’s Office.

Should hospitals punish nurses who make mistakes?

Even the medication override function that Vaught used, Manges says, can have an important function: Nurses need to be able to quickly access medications in an emergency situation when they can’t wait for verification from a pharmacist. And when health care workers do make mistakes, Ross argues hospitals usually shouldn’t punish staff.