The role of a Registered Nurse (RN) in a hospice setting is complex. It includes providing meticulous attention to medication management and compassionate end-of-life care. In situations where RNs encounter a professional crisis, a nurse attorney can be an important ally. They can assist the nurse in comprehensively evaluating the allegations and ensuring a clear understanding of the facts. Additionally, the nurse attorney can help develop a strategic response that addresses the specific concerns raised. The focus is on protecting the nurse’s professional standing and rights. Let’s dive into the incident that happened to an RN working at a hospice.
At the time of the initial incident, she was employed as an RN at a hospice in Lubbock, Texas, and had been in that position for seven (7) months.
On or about April 26, 2021, while employed as an RN at a hospice in Lubbock, Texas, the RN failed to verify home medications and failed to document physician medication orders in the medical record for a hospice patient, during admission to a skilled nursing facility. Instead, the RN inaccurately documented a physician’s order to continue home medications and instructed clinical staff at the facility to administer the medications as per the labels on the bottles. Subsequently, the patient received excess doses of Lorazepam, a previously scheduled medication that was re-ordered for administration only as needed. RN’s conduct created an incomplete medical record and was likely to injure the patient in that the administration of medication in excess frequency and/or dosage of physician orders could result in the patient suffering from adverse reactions.
In response, the RN stated she had a heavy patient load due to a staffing shortage. The RN also stated she had not received any report on the patient and stated she could not review chart notes as the facility had recently switched to a new documentation system. The RN further stated upon arrival at the facility the patient’s medication bottles were not made available to her so she entered the order to continue the home medications as per written instructions on the labels.
The Texas Board of Nursing gave the RN enough time to defend the complaints filed against her. However, there was a failure on the RN’s part to find the right RN/LVN nurse attorney to handle her case. The negligence of the RN/LVN led to the decision of the Texas BON to place the RN’s license under disciplinary action.
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If you are facing an accusation from the Texas BON and need a nursing license defense lawyer. Texas Nurse Attorney Yong J. An is one of those dedicated nurse attorneys who represented over 600 nurse cases. Contact Texas Nurse Lawyers today!