护士被认定犯有过失杀人罪后，ICN谴责将医疗错误定为犯罪行为

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美国护士因致命的药物错误被判疏忽和过失杀人罪

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The International Council of Nurses has condemned the criminalisation of medical errors after a United States nurse was found guilty of causing criminally negligent homicide by administering an incorrect drug.

Former Tennessee intensive care nurse RaDonda Vaught, who made a drug administration error in 2017 which killed 75 year-old patient Charlene Murphey, was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and impaired adult abuse.

Instead of administering the sedative Versed (midazolam) Ms Vaught gave Vecuronium Bromide, a skeletal muscle relaxant used in anaesthetics. She will be sentenced in May and faces up to six years in prison.

Speaking after the ruling, ICN President Dr Pamela Cipriano said that criminalising Ms Vaught’s mistake raises grave concerns and could erase years of progress to improve patient safety.

Dr Cipriano said: “ICN has worked closely with the World Health Organization on developing the current Global Patient Safety Action plan, which recognises that a safe organisation is one where there is a no-blame culture of openness and transparency.

‘It is vital to recognise the effects of system failures whenever such tragic errors occur, because patients will not be made safer by criminalising nursing errors and scapegoating individuals.

‘This ruling risks being a significant backward step for the advancement of patient safety globally, and could also drive nurses to leave the profession given the fear of prosecution for an honestly declared mistake. Patient safety is about learning and continuous improvement, and this ruling potentially stands in the way of that. You cannot build a culture of trust in healthcare while nurses have the threat of individual criminal prosecution hanging over them if they were to make an honest error.”

The American Nurses Association (ANA) issued a statement describing its distress at the verdict and the “harmful ramifications of criminalising the honest reporting of mistakes.”

The ANA went on to say that healthcare is complex, mistakes are inevitable, and systems will fail, and to think otherwise is “unrealistic.”

It said the verdict sets a dangerous precedent and that there are more effective and just mechanisms to “examine errors, establish system improvements and take corrective action.”

The ANA said the ruling would have a long-lasting negative impact on the profession, which is already short-staffed, under intense strain and facing huge pressures.

全文翻译（仅供参考）

在一名美国护士被认定因施用错误的药物而造成刑事过失杀人罪后，国际护士理事会谴责将医疗错误定为刑事犯罪。

前田纳西州重症监护护士RaDonda Vaught在2017年犯了一个给药错误，导致75岁的病人Charlene Murphey死亡，她被认定犯有刑事过失杀人罪和虐待受损成人罪。

沃特女士没有使用镇静剂Versed（咪达唑仑），而是使用了Vecuronium Bromide，一种用于麻醉的骨骼肌松弛剂。她将在5月被判刑，并面临最高6年的监禁。

ICN主席帕梅拉-西普里亚诺博士在裁决后说，将沃特女士的错误定为犯罪引起了严重关切，并可能抹杀多年来改善病人安全的进展。

Cipriano博士说。"ICN与世界卫生组织密切合作，制定了目前的《全球患者安全行动计划》，该计划认识到，一个安全的组织是一个没有责备的公开和透明文化的组织。

每当这种悲惨的错误发生时，认识到系统故障的影响是至关重要的，因为将护理错误定罪和将个人作为替罪羊，不会使病人更加安全。

这项裁决有可能成为全球推进患者安全的一个重大倒退，而且由于害怕因诚实申报的错误而被起诉，还可能促使护士离开这个行业。患者安全是关于学习和持续改进的，而这一裁决可能会阻碍这一目标的实现。如果护士在犯了一个诚实的错误后还受到个人刑事起诉的威胁，你就不可能在医疗保健领域建立一种信任文化。

美国护士协会（ANA）发表了一份声明，描述了它对这一判决和 "将诚实报告错误的行为定为犯罪的有害后果 "的不安。

美国护士协会接着说，医疗保健是复杂的，错误是不可避免的，系统会失败，不这样想是 "不现实的"。

它说，该判决开创了一个危险的先例，有更有效和公正的机制来 "审查错误，建立系统改进和采取纠正措施"。

ANA说，这项裁决将对这个已经人手不足、压力巨大并面临巨大压力的行业产生长期的负面影响。

原文链接：

https://www.icn.ch/news/icn-condemns-criminalisation-medical-errors-after-nurse-found-guilty-negligent-homicide

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