An Iowa hospital nurse is charged with allegedly overdosing patients with medications, the Iowa Capitol Dispatch reported March 18.
Rachel Martinez, was charged with two felony counts of obtaining a prescription drug by deceit and four misdemeanor counts of wanton neglect of a dependent adult by a caretaker. She pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Ms. Martinez, a contract nurse assigned to Spencer (Iowa) Hospital for four weeks in 2022, was employed by Aya Healthcare, a hospital spokesperson told Becker's.
She allegedly overdosed several patients with medications, according to the report:
- On Nov. 9, 2022, she allegedly provided hydrocodone to a patient three times within about five hours, instead of the prescribed once every four hours. The same patient was also supposed to have tramadol once every six hours, but Ms. Martinez allegedly administered it four times in about six hours.
- In December 2022, Ms. Martinez allegedly administered an unprescribed dose of Benadryl to a patient who she told a fellow nurse was being "annoying" and using their call light.
- A different patient was supposed to receive one dose of hydrocodone every four hours, but Ms. Martinez allegedly administered two doses within four hours and then administered Zofran, morphine and tramadol.
- A different patient was prescribed 3 milligrams of melatonin at bedtime, but Ms. Martinez allegedly administered 6 milligrams.
On two other occasions, prosecutors said Ms. Martinez took tramadol and hydrocodone for her own use.
"Through the hospital's continuous quality monitoring, hospital personnel identified concerns and addressed those issues with the individual and her employer, promptly ending her assignment at the hospital," the hospital said in a statement shared with Becker's. "Spencer Hospital immediately reported these issues to the Iowa Board of Nursing, which prompted an investigation by the Iowa Medicaid Fraud Control Unit."
Spencer Hospital has fully cooperated with the fraud unit's investigation, the statement said.
"We take patient safety and quality very seriously," hospital President and CEO Brenda Tiefenthaler, MSN, said in a statement shared with Becker's. "While we cannot comment on any patient cases due to privacy concerns, we note that anytime our robust, continuous quality-monitoring program identifies any variances, we take very swift action to avoid adverse outcomes."