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Facing any allegations and accusations can badly compromise your career and a Texas nurse attorney could provide you with the best help. If you have any valid reasons, you may refer to a nurse attorney to provide further defense against your case.

At the time of the initial incident, the LVN was employed as a Licensed Vocational Nurse at a health facility in Waco, Texas, and had been in that position for four (4) years and two (2) months. 

On or about June 18, 2019, while employed as a Licensed Vocational Nurse, the LVN failed to perform an NIH Stroke Scale/Score (NIHSS) on a patient and/or alert her charge nurse of the need to perform an NIHSS, prior to discharging the patient, as ordered. Subsequently, the LVN found the patient prior to departure from the facility and another nurse performed and documented the NIHSS. The action of the LVN was likely to injure the patient in that failure to follow physician orders could have resulted in non-efficacious treatment and placed the patient at risk for complications from an unsafe discharge. 

It was on or about September 2, 2019, while employed as a Licensed Vocational Nurse, the said LVN discharged the patient, a patient who was considered a high fall risk and was to receive home health for occupational and physical therapies, to home with no documented discharge orders and no information regarding home health services. The LVN’s conduct was likely to injure the patient in that it placed the patient at risk of complications related to an unsafe discharge. 

On or about September 3, 2019, while employed as a Licensed Vocational Nurse, the LVN discharged the patient prior to the patient’s receipt of an echocardiogram, as ordered, and failed to document that the patient had refused the test and that the LVN had notified the physician regarding the patient’s refusal. The behavior of the LVN was likely to injure the patient in that it placed the patient at risk of complications from an unsafe discharge, and also resulted in an inaccurate medical record in that subsequent caregivers would not have accurate and complete information on which to base their decisions for further care. 

On or about September 10, 2019, while employed as a Licensed Vocational Nurse, the said LVN exceeded the scope of her current practice when the LVN improperly removed the radial hemostasis device (TR band) from the patient, and a patient returned to her care after cardiac catheterization. Subsequently, when the charge nurse entered the aforementioned patient’s room at 16:31, she noticed that the TR band had been removed and placed back incorrectly due to bleeding. The LVN’s action was likely to injure the patient in that she lacked the educational foundation to ensure patient safety given the risk of complications in the removal of an arterial device, such as air embolism, nerve damage, or other complications that would require the need for a comprehensive nursing assessment. 

In relation to the situation that occurred, the LVN states that prior to discharge she had monitored the patient according to the stroke scale. It was also mentioned by the LVN that the patient had been waiting since the morning to go home and she was told by the charge nurse that the doctor gave orders for discharge and that she prepared the patient to go home, provided patient education, and discharge instructions. In addition to that, the patient left and got in the elevator when the charge nurse asked if she had performed the NIH stroke scale and then told her it needed to be performed by two nurses. It was indicated by the LVN that she immediately retrieved the patient and the NIH stroke scale was performed by the charge nurse and herself.

In light of the circumstances, the said LVN stated that she does not remember this situation. She also added that she had continually tried to get in touch with the physician so that the patient could be discharged and to notify the physician that the patient did not want any more tests. The LVN states that she did not document as she should have that night. And the LVN states that she had taken off the cardiac bands in the past and had been instructed by physicians and the charge nurses to not leave them in place for longer than two hours and that she monitored the patient and, at the appropriate time, she began to take the band off when the charge nurse came in, told her that she was going to do it, and then handed her a band-aid and walked out of the room. According to the LVN, she applied the band-aid, but the area started bleeding so she went to the nurse’s station and asked the charge nurse to check the patient’s bleeding, and that she had removed radial catheters before and had attended an education class for nurses when the device was started. 

With all the incidents that happened, the Texas Board of Nursing had no choice but to put the LVN into discipline for she failed to hire an experienced nurse attorney to properly defend her and assist her with the case. 

The Texas Board of Nursing subjected the LVN and her license to disciplinary action. The assistance of a nurse attorney could have helped the case become better for the RN. So if you ever encounter such an issue, it’s best to contact Nurse Attorney Yong J. An at (832) 428-5679 for a confidential consultation.