The nursing profession is not an easy journey. Every practicing RN or LVN license holder in the state of Texas is required to follow certain rules and regulations imposed by the government. These laws and statutes were implemented to ensure that the safety of the patients is protected by the state. A nurse attorney is the one responsible for defending the case filed against
A RN who commits any violation can place her RN License in jeopardy. The Texas Board of Nursing has the authority to revoke or suspend an RN license in the country for as long as there is a justifiable reason.
One perfect example of this happened to a RN who, at that time of the incident, was employed as a Staff Nurse in a Healthcare facility in Dallas, Texas, and had been in that position for four months.
On or about August 3, 2017, the RN administered Lovenox in the abdomen of a patient without clarifying with the physician where the surgical site was located. Additionally, she failed to document the site for the injection in the patient’s medical record. Subsequently, the RN admitted to administering the injection in the patient’s abdomen where the patient had a procedure of a 360 liposuction.
When summoned by the Texas Board of Nursing, the RN states that it is standard practice that Lovenox is always given in the abdomen, with MD orders specifying where on the body the injection should be given if the doctor’s orders deviate from the norm. She states that the off going RN was extremely specific that the Lovenox must be given at 2200, but never stated that it should be given anywhere other than the normal location.
The RN further states that the doctor’s written instructions indicate not to give the Lovenox “in a surgical site”, which she took to mean not in or around an incision. She states that the patient was tightly wrapped in a binder around her mid-section, and her
The RN states that none of the surgical sites were noted in the patient’s chart. She states that without being able to remove the binder and actually see where any incisions were located, she carefully looked for a place to inject the Lovenox. She states that she had the patient stand up and lean on the bed, while she found a good injection site which was the lower left abdomen and not a surgical site. The RN states that she documented the drug she administered to the patient and the route, but did not indicate the actual location of the lower left abdomen as she was extremely busy with this patient and not used to paper charting.
However, the Texas BON found that her conduct was likely to injure the patient in that failure to administer medication as ordered by a physician could have resulted in non-efficacious treatment. Furthermore, her conduct was likely to injure the patient in that the physician, the facility and other staff members would utilize the Medical Record to make treatment decisions.
Because of this, her RN license was disciplined.
She did not have a nurse attorney to fully defend her case led to this decision by the Texas BON.
Do you have questions about the Texas Board of Nursing disciplinary process? 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 nurse attorney Yong.