Von Nilshen Ilejay BSN 1-G

Reflective Journal about Issues and Updates related to Nurses who made Malpractices,
Murders, Felony and other unethical practices.

Introduction
This paper will discuss my reflective journal on Radonda Vaught's medication error.

RaDonda Vaught’s Medication Error

RaDonda Vaught, a former nurse, was found guilty of criminally negligent murder and gross
neglect of an impaired adult on Friday, March 25, 2022. These charges stem from Vaught's
pharmaceutical error, which killed patient Charlene Murphey in 2017 at Vanderbilt University
Medical Center. Charlene Murphey, 75, was recovering from a brain injury when she was sent to
the radiology department for a PET-scan before being discharged. Murphey was given the
sedative Versed, which is commonly used to calm patients suffering from claustrophobia during
imaging. Vaught, on the other hand, overruled the medical cabinet and took the wrong
medication. She accidentally gave Murphey the powerful paralytic vecuronium instead, resulting
in total muscle paralysis, the inability to breathe, and her death.Critically, Vaught did not monitor
Murphey after administering vecuronium, so she did not catch her error in time to give an
antidote that reverses paralysis. Undoubtedly, Vaught made a critical error that led to Murphey’s
death; however, after realizing her mistake, Vaught took the correct steps to report her error.
Vanderbilt's review process of the case led to Vaught getting fired, Vaught losing her Tennessee
nursing license, and an out-of-court settlement between the hospital and Murphey’s family.

My thoughts on this case are: First of all, when we deal with medications, we (future nurses)
should, if not triple check, but check it as many times as we can to see if those we get were
prescribed or not. But in RaDonda's case, she overlooked it, and it was too late when she
checked that the medication she had given the patient was wrong, which was the biggest
mistake she ever made. Next, I feel bad for the family of the patient since she is recovering and
can be discharged after her MRI. I get the point that she overlooked the medication she had
given, but we are here talking about lives, and that is a serious matter in any form.

Website:https://www.scu.edu/ethics/healthcare-ethics-blog/criminal-conviction-of-radonda-vaugh
t-sets-dangerous-precedent-in-reporting-medical-errors/#:~:text=However%2C%20Vaught%20o
verrode%20the%20medical,breathe%20and%20caused%20her%20death.
June 1, 2022
Author : Ethan Schauer