ER Nursing Staff Neglects Patient With Fatal Potassium Level

Case Overview

This case involves a twenty-seven-year-old female patient with a past medical history significant for depression, anxiety, hypertension, alcohol and tobacco use. The patient was seen in an emergency room for nausea and vomiting and was treated with Zofran. Shortly after the patient was admitted to the ER, she was found to be lying on the floor and unresponsive and CPR was initiated. The patient was revived but now had a diagnosis of ventricular fibrillation, cardiopulmonary arrest, acute respiratory failure, and anoxic encephalopathy. It was determined that the patient went into cardiac arrest after she was given potassium supplementation for low potassium levels due to her history of intractable vomiting. The patient was left in a private room and was not monitored for some time after the initial injection of potassium. She was reportedly given 40mEq but her lab values were not followed up on, which showed a severely low level of 2.9. Supportive care was given for a week after the incident, but the patient expired shortly after.