What should happen to nurses who cause patient deaths? According to a recent article, a nurse was allowed to keep her job after giving a patient the wrong medication, causing him to have a fatal heart attack, yet she kept her job. Should nurses be allowed to keep their jobs after such fatal blunders?

Althought the nurse was indeed left unattended it is actually her responsibility to decline to preform the procedure. Who else is better qualified to make that determination than the one administering the care? It is unconscionable in this world someone can wrongfully cause the death of another then deflect the situation by claiming not to be qualified or properly trained. If that is indeed the case what is the detourant for continual oversight on practioner's actions and the subsequent consequences? Life without accountability/consequences is not life at all as the discussed situation demonstrates only too well.

A phony nurse just plead guilty in a liposuction death. I understand all of the disdain for these guilty nurses, but are there sometimes when these events could be completely accidental?

Sorry cdnurse - my fault. I was going by the original Boston Globe headline. I changed the headline accordingly. Thanks for keeping me honest.

I'll definitely be more cognizant about it in the future. I wish that major organizations would refrain from this type of yellow journalism!

I agree they paint us badly all the time. Why can't they just stick to the obvious facts? Why do they lie about nurses just to sell a few thousand more papers?

im hearing alot bout lvns what is a lvn an what education do they have is it the same as my lpn training

accidents happen! that is why nurses have to be careful. However, the hospital should be liable in this case. They should not have left a new graduate in a position to where she had such little resources. And really, there is not enough info here to make a judgment about her. Did she have a preceptor? Was she off orientation? Did she seek help first? etc, etc. She doesn't deserve to go to jail and by law I don't really think anyone could try to put her in jail. It is a malpractice/accident issue which has to do with state board sanctions and hospital ethics review. the family could initiate a civil lawsuit but this had nothing to do with jail time.

I am sure some of you are seasoned nurses and others are new to the profession. I am dismayed at how little concern we show to nurses who make catastropic mistakes. Some say there is no consequence for the action, others say jail is the answer, both groups miss the life time memory these nurses will experience having taken a life. No jail time or license revocation can measure up to that. As georgianurse reminds us"we are only human and humans make mistakes" we are more likely to do so than some other professionals because of the nature of our work. For those of you who believe that organizations take seriously the nurse's right to refuse to perform a task, I ask that you email me your hospital's address because you are truly blessed. Of course you can lodge you concern but there is always backlash whether it comes from the co-worker who ends up performing the task or the manager who has to justify it to her/his boss, there is a price to pay. Should there be, of course not, but the reality is what it is.
Also for those who have never made a serious patient care mistake, stay tuned, your number will come up, how will you want the rest of us to view the decisions to give or not give you a second chance? Just asking..

Yes we are only human and being human we are going to make mstakes. But as nurses, our mistakes can cause someone their life. This nurse should have asked for guidance. In not doing so, she made the biggest mistake of all. We must take responsibility for our actions.

After reading everyone's posts it is clear that we see the element of human error. Of course we are trained propperly. Some things that are medical practice anyone can do with repetition , look at Hospice ..they train family members to do very difficult medical necessities. The difference is , the lay person will be MORE careful, they will read instructions dilligently and ask questions if they are nervous or unfamiliar. Once you have RN behind your name you are expected to know but it still comes down to repetition.I Never work with trachs or G-tubes so PLEASE do not expect that after being a nurse for 25 years gives me the knowledge that a new grad with 6 months of training ON that floor would have. If someone thinks they can come fill my shoes in Psych medicine in one day, lets have at it!!!!!SR