The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder by Charles GraeberMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
At first it is almost impossible to believe this man was able to bounce from one medical facility to another, killing as he went. But as the story continued it became evident that the facilities themselves were complicit in his crimes--he was suspected, he was reprimanded, he was terminated and he was given good or neutral references each time. That aspect of the story is bad enough--but it is not unusual--it happens in education as well with child molesters--don't rock the boat, don't cause the public to take their business elsewhere, don't let the institution's reputation suffer and oh, God, avoid lawsuits at any cost.
But more than that, the lack of supervision and the poor method of accounting for drug access also played a big part in this tragedy. Add to this the fact that smaller hospitals are being swallowed up by larger ones or put out of business entirely and that huge sprawling medical centers where who knows who anyone is as long as there are name tags swinging from the neck and the whole enterprise is too large to monitor. Then, of course, there is the outsourcing of hiring personnel and traveling nurses--here today, gone thousands of miles away to another hospital tomorrow. How can anyone expect accountability or monitoring??
The wonder behind this story is that more of the same situation hasn't been found. It is enough to send someone's blood pressure through the ceiling anytime a visit to a medical center becomes necessary, either as a patient or the friend or relative of a patient! Bottom line, this little worm is right where he belongs--hopefully in solitary 23 3/4 hours a day with food shoved through a slot maybe without utensils so he can eat like the animal he is.
Make sure to watch the documentary on Netflix to see and hear the actual good nurse and the detectives and others who were instrumental in finally stopping him. But, do not for one
minute believe that he in any way wanted to stop human suffering. Half the time, he had no idea what patient would receive his doctored, no pun intended, IV bags.
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