Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
This Is What Negligent Homicide Looks Like
In 2018, H.R. McMaster’s father died of a brain bleed. Does this sound familiar? It should. Except that in this case, former Philadelphia LVN Christann Gainey pleaded guilty to misdemeanor neglect of a care-dependent person and tampering with records when McMaster, Sr. died in her care.
What was the difference? Well, in this case, the patient fell five times over his four-day stay at the skilled nursing facility. It was the fifth that probably killed him. Probably. Although it is difficult to know because Gainey did not follow facility protocols. She did not monitor the patient hourly and provide neurological checks to ensure he was stable. Instead, she just charted that she did. When asked, she said that she performed by their policy.
She even charted a normal neurological check after the point at which he had already died.
When asked about the one documented 20 minutes after the patient’s death she stated: “Well, I falsified that one.” It was discovered that eight hours of surveillance video did not show her checking in on her patient even a single time.
Gainey was initially charged with additional counts of felony neglect and involuntary manslaughter, but pleaded down. Instead of jail time for a grotesque shirking of her ethical duties, as well as her attempts to cover it up, she will face six months of house arrest and probation. Her license will be suspended during that time.
When I think about this case versus another, more publicized case, a few glaring differences come to mind. I can’t say that it brings me any comfort at all.
Gainey did not perform even the bare minimum amount of monitoring of her patient. After multiple falls, which were made possible by the administrators of the facility, she did not even do her due diligence. Not only did this nurse lie on an affidavit (which I believe constitutes perjury), she lied repeatedly, even when confronted with her lies. She only made a guilty plea once video confirmed that she was, in fact, lying about providing a minimum level of care for an injured patient who later died.
Attorney General Josh Shapiro even released a self-congratulatory statement via email:
“The defendant has now been held accountable for her actions that led to the tragic death of Mr. McMaster. We have several active and ongoing investigations into long-term care facilities and nursing homes across Pennsylvania, and will hold anyone who knowingly neglects a care-dependent person in Pennsylvania accountable.”
If this is what being held accountable looks like, I am honestly terrified for the elderly residents in Pennsylvania.
Published in Law
Indeed. But so is injecting a patient with a drug labeled around the stopper “WARNING PARALYZING AGENT.” A powder that had to be reconstituted to be injectable. When the desired drug is always liquid. Something there should have registered and made her stop and look at the label. It was not a case of picking up the wrong drug during the barely controlled chaos of a code. As described, it was a busy, but stable situation. She was also teaching. That’s a distraction, but what better teaching moment than walking the new nurse through the process of double-checking the drug label? Sure, that may not be done all the time in the real world, but it should be taught as the ideal. It was a potential teaching moment and instead killed a patient. That’s serious stuff that shouldn’t be excused.
I agree that the hospital was more culpable and engaged in much more dishonest behavior. I think it’s quite troubling that the investigation came from a still unidentified “anonymous tipster.” (What happened to the right to confront ones accuser?) There is a lot wrong with the case. But the nurse certainly did several steps wrong and, as a result, her patient died. That’s not excusable and I’m not sure why you seem to be taking this so personally and feel such a need to defend her.
She was also punished at the job and licensing level, so I do agree the criminal charges were excessive. As they were in the Chauvin case. Our justice system is broken. Maybe that’s the real problem.
Black privilege.
How does that first one end up in prison and this one does not! This one is so much more egregious.
At least she couldn’t use this excuse:
see Comment # 2
Got there before I did.
It is funny how the media says the system is designed to hold down blacks and help white. I have never see it work that way.
I feel like this is on the wrong post.
I’ll copy it and answer it over there to keep threads straight.
https://ricochet.com/1210843/radonda-vaught-is-a-scapegoat/
It certainly sounds, based on the case as you described it, that this woman should face a more serious punishment for her conduct.
Assuming she did that for all the patients all the time, why didn’t anyone notice that she wasn’t doing her job? I think problem is bigger than this one nurse.
They probably didn’t want to get sued for firing a black woman.
They probably did. However, let’s keep in mind the article said: she was the LVN on duty. That means one. One LVN for the entire unit, most likely. Often, they are the top of the food chain there.
I’m guessing it was known that she was “lazy”. It was probably not known to what degree, because the videos cannot really be retrieved without cause. Once there was a crime, there was cause. When reading the articles, you can see that there are multiple investigations pending against the administration of the facility.
Oddly enough, though, it does not appear as though there are criminal charges pending against those administrators.
The facility was sanctioned and given a civil penalty: $52,250.00. Apparently, that’s the price of a life. The original report was over 100 pages, but it appears to be lost in the ether at this time.
You know, you don’t have to go by the case as I described it? I added links to news reports so that you can look for yourself.
I often qualify comments about events with something to the effect of “as described” or “as I’ve read” or, in this case, “as you described it.” It isn’t a reflection on you, merely me putting my opinion in context.
Suspended? It should be permanently revoked . . .
Seriously. There’s basics. And yes, there may be times that you miss a Neuro check (I’m being real). But you don’t dry lab. You check in as soon as possible and make sure you check on that person.
That was beyond careless.
What’s an LVN? What kind of training compared to RN? What is their scope of practice?
Licensed Vocational Nurse, similar to LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse) in most states.
How would you rate their training? I thought they were a pretty low level of training, barely above a Medical Assistant. But maybe that’s old information from 20 years ago. I thought they don’t even have IV privs unless they took additional training.
I don’t know the details, which may vary by state, I just knew what LVN stood for.
Depends on when they had their start. Back in the day, many “nurses” were LVNs. Their duties were much the same as RNs.
From nursinglicensure.org:
So what about the title Licensed Practical Nurse? There were practical nursing programs long before there were LPNs. The term was used before the turn of the 20th century – the Ballard School of Practical Nursing – though the movement grew slowly. Ohio’s Central School of Practical Nursing, established in 1937, notes that it was one of the first of its kind in the nation. The school further notes, in the history section, that it was established to fill a need: The community needed home care nurses. Those nurses didn’t necessarily need all the skills that professional nurses (who were at the time frequently educated in hospital-based diploma programs) did.
Internationally, the lower level of nursing is called second-level nurse. While there’s been a movement toward homogenization, it’s important to realize that nursing traditions and titles grew up relatively independently in places around the United States and the world.
There’s another fun article here: https://www.practicalnursing.org/lpn-lvn-history
LPNs actually have a decent amount of training. An associate’s degree RN can have 2 years of nursing school (in addition to prerequisites) versus the BSN which has (generally) 5+ years. RNs can to a BSN program in 2 years full time (24 months, there’s no summer or holidays). From a quick google search, it appears LPNs get 12-18 months of education. Mostly, they do not administer IV medications, though they do pretty much everything else. Some of the older LPNs have degrees and certifications that allow them to start IVs and give IV meds.
Medical assistants generally have more office experience than medical; they can take vital signs, do some measurements, and know some medical terminology. They can also draw labs. They also have a board for licensing.
It’s amazing to me how much medical experience some people have…and how little others do.
Looking at this from a root cause analysis standpoint, one of the root causes was this terrible excuse for a nurse. This was malicious beyond the norm, and she was the critical point of failure.