Ten Ways Your Nurse Could Endanger Your Life

Thank goodness you’re awake. That was quite the crash! Apparently, a bus full of church choir members appeared out of nowhere. Fortunately, they’ve all moved on to a better place now.

For now, just relax and recover. Or perhaps, rest in peace.

Nurses mirror the broader workforce: many are overburdened, while others are simply incompetent. Here are ten ways nurses might put your life at risk.

10. Administering Incorrect Medication

In 2017, RaDonda Vaught, a nurse at Vanderbilt Hospital in Tennessee, committed a chain of 10 errors—including ignoring prominent warnings on the drug packaging—before mistakenly administering a lethal dose of the wrong medication to a patient. Vaught admitted to investigators that she was 'distracted' by an unrelated conversation with a coworker when she selected the wrong drug from the medication cabinet—a drug clearly labeled for emergency use only.

While most medication errors don’t lead to fatalities, they occur alarmingly often. A study conducted at two teaching hospitals revealed that nearly 2% of patients experienced a 'preventable adverse drug event'—bureaucratic jargon for a mistake. Beyond harming patients, such errors also escalate healthcare costs. The study estimated that a 700-bed hospital incurs approximately $2.8 million annually due to these errors; extrapolated nationally, this adds roughly $2 billion to U.S. hospital expenses.

When pharmacies and doctors’ offices are factored in, the statistics become even more alarming. A 2017 University of Chicago study suggests that one in five Americans has encountered medication errors (LINK 1), which is actually an improvement compared to a 2002 study that found one in five medication doses in hospitals alone contained errors.

9. Administering the Wrong Dosage

Many medications frequently used in healthcare can be deadly if administered in excessive amounts. In 2011, a nurse at Good Hope Hospital in Birmingham, England, accidentally administered ten times the prescribed dose of potassium chloride, a treatment for low potassium levels, resulting in a patient’s death.

In 2015, a nurse from Summerlands Hospital in Somerset, England, was providing home care to a patient when she mistakenly gave 4,200mg of the antipsychotic clozapine instead of the intended 200mg. She claimed to have misread the label, leading to a dosage 21 times higher than prescribed. The patient tragically died as a result.

Morphine, a widely used painkiller, is the drug most commonly linked to accidental overdose deaths in healthcare settings. It can slow the respiratory system to the point of failure. In hospitals, morphine is both highly dose-sensitive and nearly omnipresent, making it particularly dangerous.

Nursing homes also face similar issues, where morphine overdoses administered by nurses are so frequent that they’ve spawned a specialized legal industry. These overdoses are a leading cause of lawsuits filed by the families of deceased patients.

Not all morphine overdoses involve elderly patients, and one case stands out as especially heartbreaking. In 2001, a nine-month-old baby in post-operative care died after a nurse misread a decimal point on a label, leading to a massive overdose. Instead of two 0.5 milligram doses, the child received two doses of 5 milligrams each—ten times the surgeon’s intended amount.

8. Accidental Dropping

Though rare, there have been tragic instances where newborn babies have died after being dropped by careless nurses. For example, at a hospital in Hyderabad, India, a woman delivered a healthy baby boy, only for a young nurse to accidentally drop him on his head. The infant was rushed to a nearby surgical center but was pronounced dead upon arrival.

In 2016, a woman in Queensland, Australia, arrived at the hospital during an unusually rapid labor. After the birth, the baby experienced breathing difficulties, prompting doctors to move the infant to a nearby room equipped with a respirator. However, the baby never reached the room. The mother later recounted hearing 'a thump and a slap.'

The nurse who dropped the baby testified, 'I had the baby in my hands. I slipped, fell to my knees, and the baby slipped out of my grasp.' When questioned about the lack of a bassinet for safe transport, the midwife admitted that the hospital did not provide them in the delivery rooms.

A particularly egregious case occurred in 2020 in New Zealand. A woman with a high-risk pregnancy was ignored by doctors and nurses for hours, despite her screams of pain. She was allegedly told to 'shut up.' Moments later, she gave birth, but neither the doctor nor the nurse was prepared to catch the baby. The newborn fell to the floor and died 90 minutes later. A truly appalling failure of care.

7. Communication Failures

Modern medical record-keeping is often chaotic. As healthcare facilities transition to full-scale digitization—implementing electronic medical record systems (EMRs)—the current system often combines synchronized caregiver apps with old-fashioned pen-and-paper notes, creating a confusing hybrid.

When it comes to patient care communication, the more people involved, the greater the potential for confusion. In large hospitals, numerous healthcare professionals may treat a single patient, requiring flawless handoffs to maintain treatment continuity. Unrecorded medication doses or overlooked procedures can directly result in accidental patient deaths.

Miscommunication-related errors form a significant portion of the broader 'medical errors' category, which is shockingly the third leading cause of death in the U.S., trailing only heart disease and cancer (and Covid, though that’s an exception). Studies indicate that enhancing communication among healthcare providers can reduce patient injuries by up to 30%.

“Communication breakdowns create opportunities for errors,” explained Daniel West, a pediatrics professor at UC San Francisco’s Benioff Children’s Hospital. These errors contribute to over 1,000 deaths daily in the U.S. and add more than $1 trillion—yes, trillion—to annual healthcare costs.

6. Administering the Incorrect Blood Type

In emergency situations, healthcare providers must rapidly and accurately process vast amounts of information. Missing even a single detail can have fatal consequences.

One critical area is blood type compatibility. Transfusing incompatible blood can trigger a hemolytic reaction, a potentially life-threatening response. This risk isn’t limited to blood types like A, B, or O—it also involves the Rh factor, a protein on red blood cells. (If you have the protein, you’re Rh-positive; if not, you’re Rh-negative).

When incompatible blood is transfused, the immune system may aggressively attack the foreign red blood cells, leading to severe complications or death. For instance, in 2018, a woman with B+ blood died at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center in Houston, Texas, after receiving A+ blood. Similarly, in 2013, a 40-year-old man died at Coney Island Hospital in New York City under comparable circumstances.

Thankfully, such errors are uncommon; only seven wrong-type transfusion deaths were reported in 2017. Additionally, a safety net exists to reduce these errors: the 'O is OK' rule. Blood type O is universally compatible, and since 38% of people are O-positive, it’s the most frequently transfused blood type.

5. Transmitting Lethal Pathogens

Despite rigorous efforts to maintain sterile environments, healthcare professionals often find it challenging to prevent dangerous, sometimes fatal bacteria from infecting vulnerable patients.

A particularly alarming outbreak occurred in 2012 when Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), a highly resistant and deadly bacteria, rapidly spread across U.S. hospitals and nursing homes. CRE is notoriously difficult to treat with antibiotics and has a mortality rate of approximately 50%. The Centers for Disease Control identified its presence in nearly 200 facilities, with 4% of hospitals and 18% of nursing homes reporting at least one infection within the first half of 2012.

Healthcare workers can inadvertently spread these superbugs during routine tasks. A 2016 study revealed that nurses’ scrubs became contaminated with bacteria after about 10% of their shifts. Even seemingly minor factors, like sleeve length, can influence germ transmission. A 2017 study found that 25% of clinicians wearing long sleeves had contaminated sleeves and wrists, compared to 0% for those in short sleeves. This led to mandatory uniform changes in several healthcare facilities.

Despite these measures, maintaining complete sterility of clothing, body parts, and medical equipment remains a daunting task. Statistics highlight the difficulty: approximately 687,000 patients contract healthcare-associated infections annually, with around 72,000 fatalities. Recent studies indicate these numbers were increasing slightly even before COVID-19, whose asymptomatic spread has further complicated infection control in healthcare settings.

4. Ignoring Patient Input

Miscommunication isn’t limited to healthcare staff; it can also occur when doctors and nurses dismiss critical information provided by patients or their families, sometimes with fatal consequences.

While understandable, these situations are deeply unfortunate. As the first point of contact in healthcare settings, nurses rely on their training and experience to assess symptoms and make quick, critical decisions. However, this reliance can sometimes lead to errors.

This approach can fail, particularly when biases override patient input. For example, in 2016, EMTs responded to a call and found a woman in severe pain, thrashing so violently that she had to be restrained during transport to the hospital.

At the hospital, a nurse concluded the woman was experiencing a delusional episode from synthetic marijuana use. This assumption persisted despite the woman’s husband of over 20 years adamantly stating she never used illegal drugs.

The nurse dismissed his concerns and even made an inappropriate remark before leaving the couple in an admission room. Shortly after, the distraught woman suffered cardiac arrest. Despite efforts by ICU doctors, she could not be revived. The autopsy revealed bacterial meningitis as the cause of death, and the nurse’s actions led to a significant lawsuit.

3. Intentional Harm

When incompetence isn’t the issue, some nurses may intentionally cause harm. A 2011 study of 70 female serial killers revealed that 30% were nurses, with the average offender killing two people per month. This grim statistic highlights a disturbing trend in healthcare settings.

This phenomenon is often referred to as an 'angel of death'—a caregiver who deliberately harms or kills those under their care. The term 'angel of mercy' is also used, suggesting a twisted justification for their actions. These individuals are notoriously hard to detect; one nurse confessed to killing up to 40 patients in Pennsylvania over 16 years.

Most nurse-related murders involve lethal injections. In some cases, they don’t even need to inject a substance. For example, a Texas nurse was convicted in October of killing four patients by injecting air into their systems. William Davis, 37, targeted seven individuals between June 2017 and January 2018. The four victims exhibited seizure-like symptoms and died from brain damage caused by air entering their arterial lines.

All the men had been recovering well from their surgeries, leaving doctors baffled by their sudden and severe decline. Davis is likely to receive the death penalty, presumably through—you guessed it—lethal injection.

2. Extreme Fatigue

Nurses are an overworked group—a reality that existed long before the deadliest global pandemic in a century. Burnout and job dissatisfaction among nurses have been persistent issues for decades.

A comprehensive 2002 study revealed that 43% of nurses reported high levels of burnout, with a similar percentage expressing dissatisfaction with their jobs, largely due to the overwhelming demands. The study also examined over 230,000 patients and found that nearly 54,000 (23%) experienced a 'major complication not present on admission,' while more than 4,500 (2%) died within 30 days of being admitted.

While it’s challenging to directly link nurse fatigue to patient harm and mortality, the data strongly suggests a troubling connection. The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated this already dire situation.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, nurse exhaustion—and that of other healthcare workers—has been fueled by multiple factors, including altered work schedules, significantly longer hours, the emotional toll of witnessing unprecedented patient deaths, and the constant fear of contracting the virus. The long-term effects on patient outcomes may take years, if not decades, to fully understand.

1. Over-Reliance on Patient Honesty

Yes, you heard correctly, you deceptive painkiller seeker.

Healthcare providers are trained to track four primary vital signs: pulse, blood pressure, temperature, and respiratory rate. However, in many U.S. and Western healthcare facilities, an unofficial 'fifth vital sign' has emerged: pain level.

In the U.S., documenting and monitoring pain is strongly recommended by The Joint Commission, the nation’s largest healthcare accreditor. This means facilities that fail to record patient pain levels risk upsetting an organization whose endorsement is crucial for maintaining public trust. If this sounds like a system vulnerable to Big Pharma influence…you’re absolutely right.

The issue lies in the subjective nature of pain. On the 1-10 scale commonly used in healthcare, one individual’s '2' might equate to another’s '8.' Combine this with the longstanding practice of managing chronic and post-surgical pain with opioid medications, and you have a recipe for worsening an overdose epidemic that claimed over 100,000 American lives last year.

Why? Opioids foster addiction, and—speaking from personal experience—addicts are prone to dishonesty. If securing my next dose is as simple as telling a nurse I’m still in severe pain, I’ll exploit your overly permissive healthcare system without hesitation. At least I’ll pass away without suffering.