The Texas Board of Nursing (BON) is the government agency that has jurisdiction to hear and decide administrative cases involving RNs and LVN in Texas. It is also the agency that is responsible for overseeing the practice of professional nursing all over the state of Texas. Any RN or LVN who is guilty of violating state laws and issuances from the Texas Board of Nursing (BON) may be subjected to penalties or fines if not properly defended by a nurse license attorney. As a matter of fact, the RN license and LVN license can even be suspended or revoked.
At the time of the initial incident, she was employed as an RN at a hospital in Victoria, Texas, and had been in that position for three (3) years and nine (9) months.
On or about July 24, 2019, while employed as an RN at a hospital in Victoria, Texas, the RN lacked fitness to practice nursing in that she was admitted to the same hospital’s emergency room for generalized numbness, generalized pain, and shortness of breath. Further, the RN told staff that she had been using pain relief medication and Fentanyl for three (3) months and that she had injected herself with Stadol approximately one (1) hour prior to admission. RN’s condition could have affected her ability to recognize subtle signs, symptoms, or changes in patients’ conditions, and could have affected her ability to make rational, accurate, and appropriate assessments, judgments, and decisions regarding patient care, thereby placing the patients in potential danger.
Another incident happened on or about June 19, 2019, through September 20, 2019, while employed as an RN at a hospital in Victoria, Texas, the RN inappropriately accessed a patient’s medical records without authorization. RN’s conduct exposed the patient unnecessarily to a risk of harm from the use, access, or disclosure of his confidential health information without his written authorization and constitutes a violation of HIPAA (The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act).
In response, the RN stated she was not on duty nor subject to duty on the date in question. At the time, she was in the process of a contentious divorce from an abusive husband for whom she was the sole caretaker following a traumatic brain injury. Regarding the second incident, the RN stated that she accessed the patient’s chart as part of her duties in caring for him at the facility. Additionally, the patient’s medical chart contained a written authorization from the patient allowing the RN to access the records. The RN had deliberately given this response without even consulting to a Texas Nurse License Attorney.
The above actions constitute grounds for disciplinary action in accordance with Texas Occupations Code and are a violation of 22 TEX. ADMIN. CODE. As a result, the Texas Board of Nursing decided to place her RN license under disciplinary action. It’s too bad that she failed to hire a nurse attorney for assistance, considering that she had valid reasons to defend herself in the first place. Her defense could have been stronger if she had sought legal consultation from a Texas nurse license attorney.
So, if you’re facing a complaint from the Board, it’s best to seek legal advice first. Texas Nurse License Attorney Yong J. An is willing to assist every nurse in need of immediate help for nurse licensing cases. He is 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 for more inquiries.