Complaints about patient abuse may put your license at risk. Issues such as this may greatly affect your future career, but only if you fail to hire a nurse attorney for the case. Some RNs and LVNs missed their chances to get their license saved from disciplinary action or revocation just because they couldn’t hire any nurse attorney to defend them.
At the time of the incident, she was employed as an RN at a hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas, and had been in that position for seven (7) months.
On or about June 16, 2020, while employed as an RN at a hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas, RN tapped the patient on the face resulting in two (2) bruises on the patient’s face. Furthermore, RN initially admitted she hit the patient as a reflex, but subsequently denied hitting the patient and said she tapped the patient with unknown force. RN’s conduct was likely to cause emotional, physical, and/or psychological harm to the patient and could have interfered or disrupted this patient’s treatment.
In response, RN states the patient had an incontinence episode during feeding and became upset and frustrated. RN relates she needed to suction him and calm him down to prevent him from having a seizure, so she patted him on his face and his upper chest intermittently to get his attention while talking calmly to him in order to calm him down. RN states this is what she typically did to calm him down without causing any injury to the patient. RN relates that when she left her shift, she did not visualize any bruising on the patient’s face.
The above actions constitute grounds for disciplinary action in accordance with Section 301.452(b)(10)&(13), Texas Occupations Code, and is a violation of 22 TEX. ADMIN. CODE §217.11(1)(A)&(1)(B) and 22 TEX. ADMIN. CODE §217.12 (1)(A),(1)(B), (4),(6)(C)&(6)(F).
However, the RN lost the case without enough evidence to prove her innocence. This is the reason why the Texas Board of Nursing placed her RN license under disciplinary action.
If you find yourself in a situation where you need legal assistance related to your nursing profession, it’s best to seek the help of a knowledgeable nurse attorney. This can increase the chances of a favorable outcome. It’s important to find a nurse attorney who has experience handling various types of nursing-related cases. If you’re in Texas, you can turn to Yong J. An, a nurse attorney who is ready to provide immediate assistance to nurses facing licensing issues. He has been an experienced nurse attorney for various licensing cases for the past 16 years and represented over 300 nurses before the Texas BON. To contact him, please dial (832) 428-5679 for a confidential consultation or more inquiries.
Arm yourself with the knowledge you need to protect your RN/LVN career! Contact us today!