RaDonda Vaught on Life After Nursing, Shame, and the Mistake Every Nurse Fears

RaDonda Vaught's name is one almost every nurse knows. In 2017, a medication error at Vanderbilt University Medical Center ended a patient's life — and ended her nursing career. She reported the error herself, lost her license, and was later convicted of criminally negligent homicide, a case that became a national flashpoint over the criminalization of medical errors.

In this episode of the Club Nurse Podcast, host Colton Lord talks with RaDonda about what actually happened, why she still speaks publicly, and what she's learned about shame, reporting culture, and human error in healthcare. She unpacks why a mistake only looks like a choice in hindsight, what accountability really means (and why she thinks the word has been twisted), how to support a coworker in the minutes after an error, and whether there's life after the bedside.

RaDonda is not a licensed nurse and does not hold any professional license.

Skip ahead:

• 00:49: Welcome and guest introduction
• 01:35: "This is not just my story" — RaDonda on whose story this actually is
• 03:02: What happened, in her own words: the error, the termination, the board, the charges
• 07:54: Why nurses are afraid to report anything
• 09:18: "No one was talking about this" — what nursing school never prepared her for
• 15:12: What to actually do in the moments right after an error
• 22:32: Life without a license: "I still put BSN behind my signature"
• 27:56: The new generation of nurses and the boundaries they're setting
• 32:00: Is there life after the bedside? Farming, transferable skills, and starting over
• 34:58: "What does accountability mean to you?"
• 40:39: Parting words: kindness is free

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