In an interview after the verdict, Watt said she was relieved that she had a resolution in 4 1/2 years, and hoped that Murphy’s family would too.

“Ms Murphy’s family is on my mind every day,” she said. “You don’t do things like this that affect families, affect lives, and you don’t carry that burden with you.”

Murphy was admitted to the neurointensive care unit on December 24, 2017, with a brain hemorrhage. Two days later, doctors trying to determine the cause of the bleeding ordered a PET scan to check for cancer. According to testimony, Murphy was claustrophobic and was prescribed Versed for anxiety. When Vaught can’t find Versed in the automatic dispensing cabinet, she uses an override and accidentally grabs vecuronium.

An expert witness in the state argued that Water violated the standard of care a nurse is expected to have. Donna, the nurse’s legal counsel, said she didn’t read the name of the medicine clearly, didn’t notice the red warning on the top of the medicine, and didn’t check with the patient for adverse reactions, other than catching the wrong medicine. Jones.

Leanna Craft, a nurse educator in the neurointensive care unit where Vaught works, testified that it was common at the time for nurses to overstep the system in order to access medication. A recent update to the hospital’s electronic records system caused delays in getting medicines from automated dispensing cabinets. There are also no scanners in the imaging area for Vaught to scan medications based on the patient’s ID bracelet.

Assistant District Attorney Chadwick Jackson told the jury in closing arguments, “Radon Davot acted recklessly and Charlene Murphy died. Radon Davot had a duty to take care of Charlene Murphy, while Radon Davot acted recklessly. Ignore that. . . . The unalterable fact that the reason for this case is that Charlene Murphy died because Ladonda Walter couldn’t pay attention to what she was doing.”

Watt said she worries that the verdict will lead other suppliers to be “cautious about coming forward and telling the truth. I don’t think the conclusions drawn from it are dishonesty and honesty.”

Patient safety expert Bruce Lambert said in an interview before the sentencing that Watt was criminally charged for medical error was extremely concerning.

“It’s not only causing nurses and doctors not to report medication errors, it’s causing nurses to leave,” said Lambert, director of Northwestern University’s Center for Communication and Health.

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Before the sentencing, Watt said she did not regret admitting her mistakes honestly. After Vanderbilt became the target of a raid by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, she felt like a scapegoat.

“Someone has to pay, and it’s really easy to say ‘let her do it,'” she said. “The nurse saw it. The doctor saw it. The radiographer saw it.”

Prosecutors said of the sentencing that it was not a precedent that would lead to further criminalization of medical error.

“This is not a case against the nursing community,” Assistant District Attorney Chadwick Jackson said. “This is a case against one person.”

Janie Harvey Garner, who founded the nurse advocacy group Show Me Your Stethoscope, disagrees.

“What’s happening here is that healthcare has completely changed,” Garner said in a phone interview. “Now, when we tell the truth, we are incriminating ourselves.”

Garner, who has been helping to raise funds for Watt’s defense, said ordinary people don’t understand how difficult and stressful it is to work as a nurse. Mistakes are common, she said, and what happened to Walter could happen to anyone.

“Her jury of peers were intensive care unit nurses,” Garner said.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 13. Vaught will be jailed for three to six years for gross negligence and one to two years for criminally negligent homicide. Vaught has been released on bail and remains free until she is sentenced. She said she was not considering whether to appeal.