Former Vanderbilt nurse charged with patient abuse, reckless homicide

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A Nashville nurse is behind bars on charges of patient abuse and reckless homicide following an investigation by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

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A doctor ordered 2 milligrams of Versed, a drug used to treat anxiety at 2:47 p.m. on Dec. 26, but inspection reports say the nurse instead administered 10 milligrams of Vecuronium, a neuromuscular blocking agent which causes paralysis sometimes used during surgeries. A review of the automatic dispensing cabinet showed the nurse used the override feature to gain access to the paralyzing agent.

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“With muscle paralysis, eventually the diaphragm will paralyze, and therefore, you will not breathe involuntarily. Generally, when that happens, you're surrounded by surgeons, anesthesiologists, and people who are breathing for you via machinery. In this case, there was no one there to breathe for the patient,” Dr. Connor explained.

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A physician called for code in the PET scanner at 3:45 p.m. and noted that the patient identified by TBI as Murphey was "pulseless and unresponsive on arrival."

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