Diane Lynch, MSN, RN, Historian
The general membership meeting started at 6:03 PM, and President Pagnotta announced there are hosting opportunities and if anyone is interested in mentoring a student nurse to please reach out to her for a School Nurse Peer Resource form, available via a link provided. Gius encouraged school nurses to consider mentoring and to please download the form. “We are trying to match up mentors with mentees.” Gius also mentioned she retired from school nursing on October 1, and started academia on January 12, 2024.
Katie Perrotto introduced the guest speaker for this meeting, Gina L. Campanella, Esq. The presentation titled” Who is RaDonda Vaught?” pertained to legal considerations for professional nurses.
Ms. Campanella stated Rabonda Vaught was a former nurse from Tennessee who was criminally prosecuted for a fatal medication error that happened when Ms. Vaught was employed at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Vaught administered 10 mg of Vecuronium instead of 1 milligram of Versed to a 75-year-old patient who was being prepared for a PET scan. Within 30 minutes, the patient was unresponsive; 12 hours later she died.
Per Ms. Campanella, Vaught did not record administering the medication, nor did she properly monitor the patient’s response. Campanella also said Vaught was confronted and confessed her error and told the truth. Vaught was indicted by a Tennessee Grand Jury of gross negligence (overarching incidents of poor judgment), a Class D felony. Campanella said it is very important to know what this is -a criminally indictable charge/offense.
Ms. Campanella again emphasized, if you’re ever approached by superiors about a situation in which led to patient harm, to get an attorney or union representative first, before talking. Campanella stressed, although this was a hospital incident, as school nurses we should be very careful. “Things are heightened when you’re working with children,” she said. Another takeaway is to speak up about about any existing policies and procedures which are potentially unsafe, as reportedly was the case with the hospital unit’s medication dispenser system. Talk to your supervisor, and formally document it. Campanella imparted, “Send an email to your supervisor, don’t just put the concern in your personal notes”.
To (legally) protect yourself, document everything. Bring problems to someone’s attention, and work to change a policy that is not optimally suited to the workplace. Formally voice your concerns. Campanella added that, if you’re fired after doing so, then that’s retaliation and an employer can get sued for that.
The general meeting ended at 7:05pm.
The general membership meeting started at 6:03 PM, and President Pagnotta announced there are hosting opportunities and if anyone is interested in mentoring a student nurse to please reach out to her for a School Nurse Peer Resource form, available via a link provided. Gius encouraged school nurses to consider mentoring and to please download the form. “We are trying to match up mentors with mentees.” Gius also mentioned she retired from school nursing on October 1, and started academia on January 12, 2024.
Katie Perrotto introduced the guest speaker for this meeting, Gina L. Campanella, Esq. The presentation titled” Who is RaDonda Vaught?” pertained to legal considerations for professional nurses.
Ms. Campanella stated Rabonda Vaught was a former nurse from Tennessee who was criminally prosecuted for a fatal medication error that happened when Ms. Vaught was employed at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Vaught administered 10 mg of Vecuronium instead of 1 milligram of Versed to a 75-year-old patient who was being prepared for a PET scan. Within 30 minutes, the patient was unresponsive; 12 hours later she died.
Per Ms. Campanella, Vaught did not record administering the medication, nor did she properly monitor the patient’s response. Campanella also said Vaught was confronted and confessed her error and told the truth. Vaught was indicted by a Tennessee Grand Jury of gross negligence (overarching incidents of poor judgment), a Class D felony. Campanella said it is very important to know what this is -a criminally indictable charge/offense.
Ms. Campanella again emphasized, if you’re ever approached by superiors about a situation in which led to patient harm, to get an attorney or union representative first, before talking. Campanella stressed, although this was a hospital incident, as school nurses we should be very careful. “Things are heightened when you’re working with children,” she said. Another takeaway is to speak up about about any existing policies and procedures which are potentially unsafe, as reportedly was the case with the hospital unit’s medication dispenser system. Talk to your supervisor, and formally document it. Campanella imparted, “Send an email to your supervisor, don’t just put the concern in your personal notes”.
To (legally) protect yourself, document everything. Bring problems to someone’s attention, and work to change a policy that is not optimally suited to the workplace. Formally voice your concerns. Campanella added that, if you’re fired after doing so, then that’s retaliation and an employer can get sued for that.
The general meeting ended at 7:05pm.