Patient Safety | 04.27.22
A Travel Nurse Leaves Fears of Hospital Drug Tampering Across Three States
by Kaiser Health News
Jacqueline Brewster, a Kentucky-based travel nurse holding a multi-state license, is under investigation for allegedly tampering with opioid medications at hospitals in Tennessee and West Virginia. Brewster is accused of removing hydromorphone hydrochloride from vials and syringes, sometimes replacing it with another liquid before returning the product to hospital medication cabinets. Authorities suspect the 52-year-old either used the drug herself or stole it for someone else. With the caps possibly glued back on, there is a risk that potentially contaminated vials of the opioid analgesic could unwittingly be administered to patients requiring pain relief. The probe shines light on the downside of travel nurse programs, where incompetent and/or criminal behavior can more easily go undetected.
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