Connecticut DPH board revokes Waterbury nurse’s license after overdose finding

The Department of Public Health board voted to revoke the registered nurse license of Kalina N. Beckford, RN, on March 5, 2025, after finding she administered a morphine infusion at a rate far above the physician’s order, which investigators say resulted in a patient’s death.

The board’s decision followed testimony from Michelle Durante, director of risk management at Waterbury Health, and the admission into evidence of Department and board exhibits including medical records, pump logs and a toxicology report. The vote on remedy was 4–1 in favor of revocation; Lisa Freeman cast the lone dissenting vote.

The case concerns an incident on Nov. 5, 2024, at Waterbury Hospital. Department staff attorney Julianne Kataya told the board the physician’s order called for “an infusion rate of 2 milligrams of morphine per hour” with adjustments every 15 minutes up to a maximum of 10 milligrams per hour. Kataya said records show Beckford programmed the pump to infuse at 100 milligrams per hour, that a pump “soft limit” alarm appeared and was overridden, and that about an hour later the morphine bag was empty, the patient was found unresponsive and the patient…