An RN or LVN who violates the state laws and issuances from the Texas Board of Nursing (BON) should seek proper help from a nurse attorney. Doing so could make or break their cases. As a matter of fact, the license can even be suspended or revoked if not defended properly.
At the time of the incident, an RN was employed as a Registered Nurse at a hospital facility in Grand Prairie, Texas, and had been in that position for one (1) year and nine (9) months.
On or about April 23, 2019, while employed as a Registered Nurse, the RN incorrectly administered a fentanyl infusion to the patient, a patient who had been emergently intubated for acute respiratory failure, by incorrectly entering the concentration of the medication into the infusion pump instead of utilizing the safety guardrails function for the medication. Subsequently, the patient received fentanyl at a rate of 418.5 ml/hr instead of the ordered 4.18 ml/hr. The incorrect administration of the RN was likely to injure the patient in that failure to correctly administer ordered medication could have resulted in non-efficacious treatment,
In response to the occurrence that happened, the said RN states the patient was brought in toward the end of her shift. Given the patient’s condition, the patient was immediately intubated and the physician ordered numerous critical drips that the RN started, the RN also states that she stayed in the patient’s room while these drips were infusing and closely monitored the patient and that the patient’s vital signs did not change while the medications were infusing. One of the pumps started alarming that the tubing had air and the RN noticed that the fentanyl bag was empty. The said RN asserts that she called the pharmacy regarding her concern that the fentanyl drip finished so quickly and to inform them that the unit had no more fentanyl, and while on the phone with the pharmacy, the pharmacist was questioning the RN regarding the rate. According to the RN, she attempted to calculate the correct rate and could not understand why it was not correct when she realized her mistake. The RN further states that the label on the bag of fentanyl read 10 mcg/ml in 0.9% sodium chloride. The bag contained 100 ml of sodium chloride. The RN added that she did not calculate this into 1000 mcg in a 100 ml bag, but then she reported her error to the charge nurse and kept a close eye on the patient.
This issue was filed as a complaint and sent to the Texas Board of Nursing. However, the RN failed to hire an effective nurse attorney to help her defend her side. As a result, the Texas Board of Nursing placed her license to disciplinary action. It’s too bad that she failed to hire a nurse attorney for assistance, knowing that she had every reason to defend herself in the first place. Her defense would have gotten better if she actually sought legal consultation from a Texas nurse attorney as well.
So if you’re facing a complaint from the Board, it’s best to seek legal advice first. Texas Nurse Attorney Yong J. An is willing to assist every nurse in need of immediate help for nurse licensing cases. To contact him, please dial (832)-428-5679 for a confidential consultation or for more inquiries.