Staff members claim leadership ignored a medical equipment recall for weeks at the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital in Tampa, Fla., according to the Military Times.
Becton Dickinson, an IV tubing manufacturer, recalled its tubing equipment on May 6. The VA hospital failed to recall the tubing for weeks, even after the equipment endangered a patient on July 31, staff members said. The patient received too much medication due to what nurses claim was malfunctioning IV equipment.
Officials at the hospital said they have removed all the faulty equipment and no patients were harmed. An internal review revealed some recalled equipment was involved in the July 31 incident, but hospital leadership said there were no equipment malfunctions. All recalled equipment has now been replaced, they said.
Staff members affiliated with National Nurses United have asked the Department of Veterans Affairs' inspector general to investigate whether the hospital followed proper procedures in complying with the recall. The VA has promised to inspect all equipment at the facility.
"James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital has a robust culture of patient safety and encourages employees to report potential issues, which is exactly what happened in this case," the hospital said in an emailed statement to Becker's. "This incident resulted in no patient harm and is now resolved."
Editor's note: This story was updated Aug. 27 at 12:30 p.m. with additional information.