The primary responsibility of nurses is to comply with the scope of practice, ensuring patients’ safety and upholding ethical standards. Unfortunately, those boundaries can be breached in cases where they are not respected and these actions may have serious consequences for both the patient and the nurse concerned. This action may lead to legal consequences, and the career of a nurse could be jeopardized. In difficult situations like these, a skilled nurse attorney may provide basic legal advice and assistance to the nurse to guide her through the investigation process while ensuring that nursing rights are protected throughout the procedure.
At the time of the initial incident, on or about February 6, 2021st, at a hospital in Fort Hood, Texas, while employed as an RN there the RN exceeded his scope of practice by administering a saline placebo instead of Dilaudid 1 mg that was ordered for a patient. The RN had been in that position for a year and four (4) months. In addition, the RN laughed about only giving saline and stated he drew it up to look like Dilaudid to “see what he does.” The RN’s failure to administer medications as ordered by the physician could have resulted in unnecessary suffering from pain, which could have prolonged his recovery period.
As a response on the RN’s side, the patient’s call light went off and he requested more Dilaudid. The RN added, that at that time he also noticed that the patient’s maintenance IV fluid was hardly dripping, so before getting the pain meds, he returned to his room with a saline flush and flushed the IV line. According to the RN, the patient fell asleep almost immediately and kept on sleeping for another 2 hours or so without any pain medication administration. The RN then explained to the physician on duty that the patient might be ready for discharge and that his pain was under control without him having to administer any narcotics. The RN added that he believed the patient must have thought he gave him Dilaudid while he was flushing his line. He also admitted that he did chuckle while relaying this information to the doctor, and to his surprise, the physician got extremely angry. Furthermore, the physician stated he deceived the patient and that he should have given the pain med as ordered. This demeanor will most likely call for the Texas Board of Nursing license disciplinary action, which will put the involved nurse’s license at risk. This is the time where hiring a nurse defense attorney is beneficial.
The above actions constitute grounds for disciplinary action in accordance with Section 301.452(b)(10),(12)&(13) Texas Occupations Code, and is a violation of 22 TEX ADMIN. CODE §217.11(1)(A),(1)(B),(1)(C),(1)(M)&(1)(N) and 22 TEX. ADMIN. CODE §217.12(1)(A),(1)(B)&(4). Without enough evidence to prove he was not guilty, the RN lost the case. Hence, the Texas Board of Nursing (BON) placed his RN license under disciplinary action. The RN could’ve been led and guided if he had only hired an experienced nurse attorney.
Equip yourself with the knowledge and expertise you need for a successful outcome by consulting a knowledgeable and experienced Texas RN/LVN license attorney. All you need to do is to find the right RN/LVN license attorney who can help you in the case. Texas Nurse Attorney Yong J. An has been an experienced nurse attorney for various licensing cases for the past 16 years and represented over 300 nurses before the Texas BON. Contact the Law Office of Yong J. An 24/7 through text or call at (832) 428-5679. We practice for the results and success you need.