RaDonda Vaught is an American former registered nurse from Bethpage, Tennessee. She became nationally known after a fatal medication error at Vanderbilt University Medical Center led to a criminal conviction in 2022.
Her case reshaped a national conversation about medical errors and criminal liability.
Who is RaDonda Vaught?
RaDonda Vaught is a former registered nurse who worked at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. She began working there in December 2015, according to court records cited by Wikipedia.
In December 2017, Vaught administered the wrong medication to a patient, Charlene Murphey, who died as a result. That error led to Vaught’s firing, the loss of her nursing license, and a criminal trial that drew national attention from nurses across the country.
A Nashville jury convicted Vaught of criminally negligent homicide and gross neglect of an impaired adult in March 2022. She was sentenced to three years of probation rather than prison time.
Since then, Vaught has largely stepped away from public life in nursing. She now runs a small farm in Tennessee with her husband and has occasionally spoken publicly about patient safety.
Early Life of RaDonda Vaught
Vaught is from Bethpage, Tennessee, a small community north of Nashville. Before working in health care, she spent time as a licensed realtor with Keller Williams Realty in the Clarksville, Tennessee area.
She later pursued nursing, earning her registered nursing license in February 2015. Vaught went on to work at Sumner Regional Medical Center before joining Vanderbilt University Medical Center later that same year.
Her path into health care came after an earlier career entirely outside of medicine. That shift eventually placed her in one of the most closely watched nursing cases in recent American history.
RaDonda Vaught Age
RaDonda Vaught was 38 years old at the time of her trial in March 2022, according to multiple news reports from that period. Based on that age, Vaught is approximately 42 years old as of 2026.
An exact birth date for Vaught has not been consistently confirmed across reliable sources. What is clear is that she built her nursing career in her early thirties, only a few years before the fatal error occurred.
RaDonda Vaught Ethnicity and Nationality
Vaught holds American nationality and has lived in Tennessee for most of her life. She grew up and continues to reside in the Nashville area, in the community of Bethpage.
Her cultural background is tied closely to rural Middle Tennessee. Vaught has spoken about her roots in the region during interviews tied to both her nursing career and her later work in farming.
RaDonda Vaught Education
Vaught obtained her nursing education before entering the profession in 2015. Some records indicate she attended Western Kentucky University, where she pursued nursing studies before returning to Tennessee to begin her clinical career.
She completed her registered nursing license in February 2015. That credential allowed her to begin working at Sumner Regional Medical Center before her move to Vanderbilt.
RaDonda Vaught Career
Nursing at Vanderbilt and the Medication Error
Vaught began working as a nurse at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in December 2015.
On December 24, 2017, 75-year-old Charlene Murphey was admitted to the hospital with a brain bleed, and two days later, Vaught was asked to administer a sedative called Versed before Murphey’s imaging scan.
Vaught could not find Versed listed under its brand name in an automated medication cabinet, so she triggered an override to access a larger list of drugs. She then selected vecuronium, a paralyzing agent, instead of the sedative she intended to give.
Murphey went into cardiac arrest shortly after receiving the injection and was moved to intensive care. She was taken off life support the next day after being declared brain dead, and Vanderbilt fired Vaught in January 2018 following an internal investigation.
Legal Proceedings and Conviction
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation arrested Vaught in February 2019 on charges of reckless homicide and impaired adult abuse. Her trial began in March 2022 after delays tied to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prosecutors argued that Vaught ignored multiple safety warnings while administering the medication. Her defense pointed to systemic issues at Vanderbilt, including cabinet overrides that staff used daily and a hospital settlement with Murphey’s family that kept details of the death from becoming public at the time.
On March 25, 2022, a jury found Vaught not guilty of reckless homicide but convicted her of the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide, along with gross neglect of an impaired adult. Those charges carried a potential sentence of up to eight years in prison.
Before the criminal trial, Vaught’s case had already gone through a separate disciplinary process. The Tennessee Board of Nursing initially found no grounds for action in 2019, but reversed that decision later that year, ultimately revoking her nursing license in July 2021 and fining her $3,000.
Following her conviction, a Change.org petition asking Tennessee’s governor for clemency gathered more than 200,000 signatures. Governor Bill Lee declined to intervene, and the case proceeded to sentencing as scheduled.
The verdict drew strong reactions from nursing organizations nationwide. The American Nurses Association said the case set a dangerous precedent for criminalizing honest medical errors, while the American Hospital Association warned it could chill hospitals’ broader culture of safety.
Sentencing and Life After the Trial
On May 13, 2022, Judge Jennifer Smith sentenced Vaught to three years of supervised probation with judicial diversion, meaning her record could be expunged if she completed probation successfully. Vaught completed that probation in May 2025.
During her sentencing hearing, Vaught apologized directly to Murphey’s family. “I will never be the same person,” she said. “When Ms. Murphey died, a part of me died with her.”
Since losing her nursing license, Vaught has focused on Hidden Holler Farms, a family farm she and her husband operate in Bethpage. She has also taken on work as a public speaker, addressing healthcare audiences about patient safety and the case that ended her nursing career.
RaDonda Vaught Husband
RaDonda Vaught is married to Ed Vaught. The couple founded Hidden Holler Farms together in 2009, years before the medication error that ended her nursing career.
Ed and RaDonda Vaught run the farm as a family operation, raising Katahdin sheep and pasture-raised poultry in Bethpage, Tennessee. During Vaught’s legal proceedings, the couple leaned on the farm as a source of steady income once she could no longer work as a nurse.
The farm has since become central to their daily life. Vaught has described farm work as physically demanding but rewarding, especially after losing her ability to practice nursing.
RaDonda Vaught Social Media
Vaught and her husband run Hidden Holler Farms on Instagram, where they post about their sheep, poultry, and farm markets around Nashville. The account reflects their daily operations rather than commentary on her legal case.
She has also used interviews and public speaking engagements to reach audiences beyond social media. Vaught has discussed her case with outlets covering nursing and patient safety in the years following her conviction.
The Bottom Line
Vaught was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and gross neglect of an impaired adult in March 2022, following the 2017 death of patient Charlene Murphey at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She was sentenced to three years of probation rather than prison time, and completed that probation in May 2025.
She built her nursing career in Tennessee after an earlier stint as a real estate agent, only to lose her license entirely following the case. Vaught and her husband, Ed, have run Hidden Holler Farms together since 2009.
Vaught now splits her time between the farm and occasional speaking engagements on patient safety. We hope you enjoyed reading about Radonda Vaught. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!