2 Seattle Children's nurses are cited in separate medical errors

Two nurses at Seattle Children's involved in separate medical errors have been charged with unprofessional conduct and violations of the standards of nursing practice by state nursing-license authorities.

One nurse, part of a transport team bringing a critically ill newborn to Children's in September, administered medications to the baby without a proper doctor's order, the state's Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission alleged. According to the charges, the nurse falsely documented that she had a verbal order from the doctor.

The baby died from natural causes, according to the King County Medical Examiner's Office.

In the second case, another nurse administered a medication intravenously instead of intramuscularly to an adult who had come to the hospital's emergency room with acute respiratory distress.

The nurse, who was licensed as a nurse in Washington in 2001, told investigators that she had been told by the man's doctor to give the medication intravenously. She said she noted that the drug's label said it should be given into a muscle, but gave the patient the drug intravenously anyway.

The nursing commission said the nurse failed to notify the doctor that the order conflicted with the medication's directions.

The patient developed a potentially life-threatening arrhythmia and required treatment, but recovered.

The two nurses now may respond to the charges, which, if upheld, could result in sanctions against their nursing licenses.

The charges stem from cases reported by Children's last fall after news reports surfaced about the case of an 8-month-old baby who died after being given an accidental overdose by a nurse who later died by suicide.

Earlier, both the state and federal authorities found that the hospital had inadequate procedures for ensuring that transport crews obtained the proper authorization when they administered medications to patients.

Carol M. Ostrom: 206-464-2249 or costrom@seattletimes.com