03/29/2022
On Friday, March 25, 2022, RaDonda Vaught was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and gross neglect of an impaired adult following a 2017 drug administration error that resulted in the tragic death of a patient. The Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses agrees with both the American Nurses Association and the Tennessee Nurses Association that the verdict in the case against Vanderbilt University Medical Center nurse RaDonda Vaught is distressing and dangerously criminalizes human error in health care.
AMSN asserts the customary and fitting action in this case was for the Tennessee Board of Nursing to investigate, evaluate, and determine if disciplinary action was appropriate, warranted, and necessary. In fact, Vaught had been disciplined by the Tennessee Board of Nursing and lost the privilege to practice as a registered nurse. This process is the established and legislated process for dealing with nursing practice issues and action should have stopped there.
RaDonda Vaught’s prosecution will not prevent future errors, and will not make the hospital where the error occurred more safe. There is significant fear that her prosecution will result in under-reporting of errors by other healthcare practitioners afraid of the repercussions to them, their livelihoods, and their personal freedom.
Read statement here: http://ow.ly/bgbF50Ium6b
