She might have been thrown under the bus to cover up short staffing

That's exactly what happened. If I remember my details correctly, she was the only nurse in the hospital with specific training for critically ill preterm babies. She was the only person they could call to care for the highest risk infants. Her presence at their deaths was the only evidence presented against her. That's it. She was absolutely railroaded to cover up how the government's underfunding was killing babies.