A Nurse Was Arrested For Making a Fatal Mistake — It’s Causing a “Chilling Effect” For Healthcare
The precedent set by the RaDonda Vaught verdict
“COVID-19 has already exhausted and overwhelmed the nursing workforce to a breaking point. Nurses are watching this case and are rightfully concerned that it will set a dangerous precedent.” — The American Nurses Association
One of my good friends is a nurse, and he was telling me about a case where a nurse at Vanderbilt was convicted and arrested for making an unintentional mistake. He seemed to disapprove of the verdict, and I got the sense that every nurse makes mistakes, but this verdict sent a message to nurses around the country: watch out — it could happen to you too.
Whether this is true or not true remains to be seen. All over the Internet, the term “chilling effect” is being used to describe the effect the verdict will have on nurses. The chilling effect usually refers to not feeling like you can speak freely in line with the First Amendment, but in this case, it refers to nurses having to watch their backs and not reporting mistakes.
To me, it seems easy for nurses to occasionally make mistakes, although I understand the pushback that comes when the mistakes are lethal with severe repercussions. Nurses often have to…
