Nurse disciplined for extra morphine
October 1, 1997 less than 1 minute read
Nurse disciplined for extra morphine
A Nevada nurse recently was cleared of state nursing board sanction by the state supreme court, an action brought on by the involvement of the patient’s son, a physician at the same hospital. (Nevada State Board of Nursing v. Merkley, NV Sup. Ct., No. 27620, 6/4/97.) Suffering from terminal peripheral vascular disease, the patient was put on a 12-hour morphine drip when standard medication failed to alleviate pain.
The nurse in question found the drip bag empty in six hours. The son, an anesthesiologist at the hospital, asked the nurse to put on a second drip bag. The physician who had ordered the first bag was not available for consult. The nurse refused because, although the son was a staff anesthesiologist, he was not on the patient’s treatment team. The son called another anesthesiologist who had been on his father’s treatment team, and that anesthesiologist agreed to order a second bag.
The patient died an hour after the second drip began, and a unit nurse manager, questioning the circumstances of the death, reported the nurse for gross negligence and unprofessional conduct. The charges included not reporting changes in the patient’s condition and failure to follow nursing standards.
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