All the details in our Health Safety stories come from publicly available Final Orders, Consent Orders, Orders of Suspension and other documents from the Virginia Department of Health Professionals. Unless otherwise noted, direct quotes are taken from those documents. For more information, see the Editor’s note below the story.
ROANOKE – A nurse was getting worried during a surgery at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital in June of 2023. The traveling surgical technologist in the room was supposed to be restringing surgical instruments, but seemed to be struggling with the task.
The nurse watched the tech put her arms down on a table. The tech’s eyes closed. According to the nurse, she was “dozing a bit” during the surgery.
After the procedure, the nurse approached the surgery tech, Amanda Jones. Jones told the nurse she was getting a coffee before going into the next procedure. The nurse was skeptical.
The nurse told Jones she “still looked very tired.” Jones fiddled with supplies on the table during the brief conversation.
The nurse, who was the team lead, left the room to request another surgical technologist to replace Jones. Later in the day, Jones told one of the unit directors that she had not had enough sleep, was not eating properly, and was under stress.
The unit director told Jones to go home for the day, rest, and come back tomorrow.
The next day, June 10, a second nurse watched as Jones collapsed to the floor in the operating room. Jones got up, holding a surgical knife she'd dropped as she fell. The nurse and Jones left surgery to report the incident. While reporting, Jones fell asleep again.
Carilion required that Jones submit to a fit for duty assessment and a urine drug screen that day. The drug screen was positive for amphetamine and methamphetamine. Medical board documentation notes that those drugs are "C-II stimulants that have a high potential for abuse and for which Ms. Jones did not have a prescription.”
Two days later Carilion ended Jones's assignment at the Roanoke hospital. It took four months after that for the Virginia Board of Medicine to suspend her license, on November 29, 2023.
“Effective immediately, it shall be unlawful for you to practice as a surgical technologist or hold yourself out as a certified surgical technologist in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” reads the letter the board sent Jones.
Jones had earned her surgical technologist license in July 2022, registered in Waynesboro. In February 2023, months before she began work at Carilion, Jones failed a pre-employment drug screening, testing positive for "unprescribed" amphetamines and methamphetamine. Both Aya Healthcare and Carilion Clinic declined to speak about Jones' case, but stated they had followed all relevant laws regarding employee drug screening.
The earlier failed drug test was referenced by the Board of Nursing in its February 29, 2024 decision following a full hearing at which Jones chose not to attend.
The board indefinitely suspended Jones’ license at hearing.
The suspension does not mean Jones will never work as a tech again. According to the order, Jones could get her license reinstated on certain conditions if she can "demonstrate that she is safe and competent to return to her practice as a surgical technologist."
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To file a formal complaint against a health professional, click here . For links to the public information informing this story, see below.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: When citizens are a danger to the public safety, law enforcement arrests them and charges them with crimes; they have the opportunity to face a jury of their peers; if convicted, they serve time and/or probation that can often ensnare them in the system for years.
When a medical professional is an alleged danger to the public safety, the Virginia Department of Health Professionals handles all facets of the inquiry, including the investigation and penalties. And sometimes, even when a medical professional is found liable of doing harm to patients, they may face a reprimand, pay a fine and continue to practice, without missing a day of work and with little chance for the public to see what they’ve done.
The Health Safety stories in this series tell the facts of cases where medical professionals endanger our public health safety. They also bring you into the world of the medical board’s consent orders and public final orders, so you can see exactly how the VDHP’s self-policing system works.
Lyra Bordelon (she/her) is the public transparency and justice reporter at The News Leader. Do you have a story tip or feedback? It’s welcome through email to lbordelon@gannett.com . Subscribe to us at newsleader.com .
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Waynesboro surgical tech fails drug test after falling in surgery
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