Violeta Aylward, a 55-year-old nurse based in London was caught by on CCTV as she accidentally turned of the ventilator of her paralyzed patient. This resulted in serious, irreversible brain damage. The video showed Aylward pressing a switch on the ventilator which then gave off high-pitched warning sounds prior to being turned off. The patient was identified as Jamie Merrett, at 37-year-old Brit, who was a victim of a car accident which left him paralyzed from the neck down. The video also showed Aylward trying to turn the ventilator back on but to no avail. When the paramedics showed up and successfully managed to turn it back on, it was already too late. 21 minutes had passed and Merret had already suffered severe brain damage. Now he has the mental capacity of but a young child. The family has decided to press charges against Aylward for this incident.
As a nurse, I have to say that it is not easy being in this profession. We can not afford to make mistakes. In other jobs a mistake might mean lost money, or lost clients. But in the medical field, one mistake can so easily lead to the disability or worse-the death of your patient. That is why even if Aylward is obviously at fault (it was caught on tv), I cant help but sympathize with her. She must be going through a rough time right now and she needs all the prayer and help she can get. Let this be a shout out to all the nurses out there (and yes, there are quite a few of us) to be more careful. Mistakes are just not an option in this profession.
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