The Nursing profession is one of the most noble vocations, yet it requires the need for utmost commitment to patient care. LVNs are essential to providing competent and compassionate safekeeping to the people they serve. But occasionally, unanticipated difficulties emerge, and caregiving errors could happen, unintentionally endangering the well-being of the patient. Under certain circumstances, LVNs might have to go through hurdles that would potentially hurt their careers, which then may lead to legal liabilities. This is when the guidance and expertise of a Texas nurse attorney would come in handy. A nurse attorney is capable of handling complex cases thoroughly and sees to it that the voice of the LVN is heard and that their viewpoint is adequately represented.
She had been working as an LVN at a medical facility in Fort Hood, Texas, for four (4) months at the time of the first occurrence. On October 2, in the year 2021, The LVN currently employed at the medical facility in Fort Hood, Texas faced accusations as follows: The LVN in charge didn’t accordingly follow what was stated on the patient’s care plan which included moving the patient without the assistance of two other colleagues. Furthermore, she left the patient unattended on the bedside commode throughout the night. This resulted in prolonged sitting which caused discomfort and soreness on her buttocks. Also, she has put her patient at risk of falls-related injuries. The patient care that LVN provided was not fully and accurately documented in the patient’s medical records. Proper documentation is essential for efficient takeovers and continued care and support of a patient. Therefore failure to present appropriate and precise information is a form of medical neglect as this has compromised the patient’s safety.
Concerning the first incident, the LVN stated that her patient was quite apprehensive about moving to the bedside commode nevertheless, she successfully convinced her patient that she would manage to do it by herself since the patient was reluctant to entrust this task to the other nurses on duty at the time. Then around midnight, she made a call light to the nurse in charge to help with the transfer.
As the charge nurse spoke with the patient, the LVN assisted her while she demonstrated the proper method of patient transfer. The LVN further explained that the charge nurse was still in the room tending to this patient when she left. When she checked on her patient later that day, it turned out that she wasn’t ready to go back to her bed. On that account, the LVN made certain that the call light was placed within the patient’s reach and instructed her to contact the charge nurse whenever she needed help. Around 1:30 am, she returned to the patient’s room and found her curled up in bed.
She then responded to what took place in the second incident. According to the LVN, it’s a protocol to check each patient every two hours and have their current stats and condition recorded on their respective charts. She clearly stated that the documentation was done and completed except for that particular evening as she was too busy looking after her patients and didn’t have much time to finish everything within her shift, nonetheless, she made sure to sort out all her notes that day. Knowing that she would be on duty the next day, she planned on completing the patients’ notes once she arrived at the hospital. The aforementioned conduct violates Texas Admin. Code and is grounds for disciplinary action in line with the Texas Occupations Code.
Despite efforts to justify her actions, the Texas Board of Nursing found her liable for the abovementioned misconduct. Reprimands were then applied to her LVN license. All of these could have been prevented had she hired a skilled attorney who could help her in this legal battle. I strongly advise all medical practitioners to always indulge the service of a nurse attorney who can surely give out excellent evaluation and resolution to a case. As a legal adviser with 16 years of expertise in this field, Texas Nurse Attorney Yong J. An has represented a total of 300 nurses in their lawsuits. Don’t hesitate to seek help whenever needed, you can reach attorney An through text or via phone call on this hotline (832) 428-5679 available 24/7.