Nurses must ensure that patients receive adequate and essential therapy by administering medications accurately and communicating with physicians on a timely basis. However, there are times when failures in medication record keeping and failure to notify physicians about patient refusals jeopardize patient safety and raise questions about the nurse’s competency. Such activities can have major ramifications for patient health and may require legal assistance to resolve disciplinary proceedings. A nurse defense attorney can help navigate these complicated legal issues and defend the LVN’s rights by ensuring a fair and complete inquiry and advocating for the LVN’s best interests in dealing with the allegations.
On or about the 5th through the 6th of August, 2021, the involved party was employed as an LVN at a behavioral health treatment facility in Wichita Falls, Texas, and had been in that position for two (2) years and five (5) months.
The LVN was accused of the following:
- LVN documented twelve (12) medications as refused by a patient but failed to notify the physician of the patient’s refusal. This action was likely to cause injury to the patient such as high blood glucose, seizure, high blood pressure, mood instability, blood clots, and/or psychosis without the benefit of physician intervention.
- LVN failed to administer clozapine and lithium, antipsychotic medications, and metronidazole, an antibiotic, to another patient and failed to notify the physician that the medications were not given. This conduct was likely to cause the patient injury such as mood instability, psychosis, and infection.
In response to the first accusation above, the LVN stated that the covering physician was notified verbally when he was in the facility, and it should have been documented with the medications or in the additional notes. About the second accusation, the LVN stated that she recalls not having the medications and working with the pharmacy to have them delivered to the unit. She also recalls having a decision with the covering physician and documenting with the medications or in the additional notes. Lastly, she added that the patient was scheduled to have an ECT on the morning of August 7th, which did not allow for her to have the scheduled clozapine.
The above action constitutes grounds for disciplinary action under Section 301.452(10)&(13) Texas Occupations Code and is a violation of 22 TEX ADMIN. CODE §217.11(1)(A),(1)(B),(1)(C),(1)(D),(1)(M),(1)(P)&(2)(A) and 22 TEX. ADMIN. CODE §217.12(1)(A),(1)(B),(1)(C)&(4).
Unfortunately, the Texas Board of Nursing found her guilty of her deeds. Her LVN license was subjected to disciplinary action. A skilled Texas nurse attorney would have been essentially handy to help her defend her case in court.
Do you have questions about the Texas Board of Nursing disciplinary process? Contact The Law Office of Texas Nurse Attorney Yong J. An for a private consultation by calling or texting 24/7 at (832) 428-5679. The law firm has responded to over 600 cases and knows the in and out of nurse license disciplinary procedures. Be at ease and schedule an appointment now.