The Tennessee Board of Nursing stripped a former nurse at Nashville-based Vanderbilt University Medical Center of her license during a July 23 disciplinary hearing linked to her administering a fatal dose of medicine to a 75-year-old patient in 2017, the Tennesean reports.
The nurse, Radonda Leanne Vaught, was indicted on charges of reckless homicide and impaired adult abuse in 2019 and has a criminal trial set for next year.
Four details:
1. Ms. Vaught, who has pleaded guilty on all charges, is accused of accidentally injecting the 75-year-old patient in 2017 with vecuronium, a powerful paralyzer intended to keep patients still during surgery. The patient was supposed to receive a routine sedative. Vanderbilt fired Ms. Vaught in January 2018.
2. The patient suffered cardiac arrest and died a day after being taken off a breathing machine.
3. During the July 23 medical disciplinary meeting, the nurse said Vanderbilt encouraged nurses to override safeguards on medication cabinets due to a computer program, which she says contributed to the error. "Overriding was something we did as part of our practice every day," Ms. Vaught said. "You couldn't get a bag of fluids for a patient without using an override function."
4. Vanderbilt declined to comment on the allegations made by Ms. Vaught and her attorney, according to the Tennessean.