The presence of RNs or LVNs in the state of Texas has a lot of benefits to all the inhabitants of the country. These professionals have the capacity to assist every citizen or resident in times of needs. Unfortunately, there are some professional nurses who do not take their jobs seriously. Most often than not, they commit acts that would place themselves in a compromising situation. What is even worse is that in the process of being negligent, they also start to place the lives of their patients in danger. As a result, these professionals are subjected to several complaints before the Texas Board of Nursing (BON). Therefore, it is crucial that they seek the help of a nurse attorney to defend their case.
At the time of the initial incident, she was employed as an RN with a home healthcare service provider in Fort Hood, Texas and had been in that position for eight (8) months.
On or about August 31, 2020, while employed as an RN with a home healthcare service provider in Fort Hood, Texas, RN failed to correctly confirm the identity of the individual present for a scheduled visit and documented in the medical record that she confirmed the person’s identity was Patient A, by facial recognition. As a result, the RN performed a nursing visit on a person that was not a client of the home healthcare service provider and Patient A, the intended patient, had passed away August 19, 2020. RN’s conduct created records that could have exposed the individual to a risk of harm.
In response, RN states she was tasked with performing a recertification OASIS assessment on Patient A at an Independent Living Facility (ILF). RN states she had only met this patient on one prior visit, approximately three weeks prior. When she arrived at the ILF and completed the sign-in process, at no time did any one mention that the patient she was there to assess had passed away 17 days prior. Upon entering the patient’s apartment, RN states she asked the person in the apartment if she is Patient A. The patient said she was. There was no facility “chart” for the patient available to RN. The only record RN had was the handheld electronic medical record from the healthcare service provider, which contained no notifications that Patient A had expired. RN had no recollection of what the real Patient A looked like. Throughout the assessment RN referred to patient B as Patient A and the patient never corrected RN or indicated in any way that she was not Patient A.
The above action constitutes 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),(1)(D)&(3)(A) and 22 TEX. ADMIN. CODE §217.12.(1)(A),(1)(B)&(1)(C).
A case was ultimately filed against her before the Texas Board of Nursing (BON). The said allegation was fatal to the RN’s capability to perform the essential functions and duties. Sad to say, the nursing defense attorney who handled her case was not able to properly defend her interests and rights before the Board. The Texas Board of Nursing (BON) found her guilty of the offense alleged in the complaint and decided to place her RN license under disciplinary action.
If you also received a letter from the Texas Board of Nursing regarding a case or complaint filed against you, you should hire a nurse attorney immediately before it’s too late. Texas Nurse Attorney Yong J. An is one of those dedicated nurse attorneys who helped represent more than 300 nurse cases for the past 16 years. You may contact him 24/7 at (832) 428-5679 for more information or if you want to schedule a private consultation.