Serial Healthcare Killers
Medically-assisted opioid-related overdoses have become major news items. Erin Laferriere got involved in such a case, the Mount Carmen/Dr. Husel litigation in 2020. Dr. Husel was charged with 14 counts of murder. The nurses involved were charged civilly with negligence and were reported to their respective nursing boards. Erin was involved with the civil cases.
In the course of her investigation, she learned about much more than the process of medically assisted death. What astonished her was the degree to which the nurses involved went along with the doctor. Some of that may have been due to the deference nurses often show physicians, but a deeper issue was identified.
“Nurses are not going to report medical errors if they’re going to be punished for it, whether it’s their mistake or somebody else’s mistake. That fear of losing your license, your livelihood, your passion, your profession is a very real fear, and it’s becoming more common in the post-pandemic era.”
Erin says: “Nurses are not going to report medical errors if they're going to be punished for it, whether it's their mistake or somebody else's mistake. That fear of losing your license, your livelihood, your passion, your profession is a very real fear, and it's becoming more common in the post-pandemic era.”
Pat supported this, that when she was in a clinical position, her director of nursing said that if a nurse reported three medication errors, she would lose her job.
This podcast not only provides useful information should you ever come across such a case, but it will make you think. When a hospital punishes nurses for doing the right thing, how can they expect an environment in which a patient’s pharmaceutical needs are correctly administered?
What are the correct protocols for a “Do not resuscitate” case?
When should a nurse question a medication order?
Why did these nurses not question the medication orders of Dr. Husel?
What role did the punitive atmosphere in the hospital play in this tragedy?
How did the pharmacists become involved in this?
