We all expect nurses to bring the best quality of care to our patients. And we sometimes complain if our expectations are not met. These complaints and accusations can cause them big time. The accusation is the beginning of struggles for any nurse. Once an accusation became a formal charge against an RN, this could lead to a serious penalty and could cause your license. But such matter can be handled by a nurse attorney. Nurses around the world should know ways how to defend themselves in case a scenario happens.
At the time of the initial incident, an RN was employed as a Registered Nurse at a hospital in Garland, Texas, and had been in that position for three (3) months.
It was on or about July 16, 2018, when the RN failed to notify the physician and/or Rapid Response Team when a patient had systolic blood pressure greater than 20mm Hg from baseline, per facility policy. Additionally, the RN failed to reassess and/or document her reassessment of the patient’s oxygen saturation after an initial reading of 90% to verify her interventions of elevating the head of the bed 45 degrees and increasing the Oxygen from 2L to 4L via nasal cannula were sufficient. Subsequently, the patient had a change in neurological status and required transfer to the Intensive Care Unit. The RN’s conduct deprived the physician and/or Rapid Response Team the opportunity to timely provide medical interventions to stabilize the patient and the RN’s conduct was likely to injure the patient from clinical care decisions based on incomplete assessment information.
In regards to the above incident, the RN states that she reported all her assessments and interventions to her preceptor who was more experienced and knowledgeable in situations like this, and who was familiar with this patient. The RN asked her for further evaluation of the patient’s condition prior to reporting to a physician. She consulted her preceptor first because she believed that she did not have the proper coaching and education and training regarding when to call RRT by herself as a preceptee. After her preceptor assessed the patient, she instructed the RN to keep monitoring the patient. After an hour of continuous monitoring, the RN notified her preceptor that the patient was becoming unstable and confused. The preceptor at that time notified the Charge Nurse and called RRT at 15:15 and MD was notified at 15:37. The RN states that no harm came to the patient as a result of this.
Due to the above-mentioned incident above, the RN was subjected to disciplinary action by the Texas Board of Nursing. The RN failed to hire a nurse attorney for her case and now facing the consequence of her actions.
If you have questions about the Texas Board of Nursing disciplinary process, you can contact The Law Office of Nurse Attorney Yong J. An for a confidential consultation by calling or texting 24/7 at (832) 428-5679 and ask for attorney Yong.