Administering medication to patients should be done carefully and must be in the specifications of the physician’s order. Improper administration of medication can cause harm to patients. The accusation of such negligence is common in nursing care. You just need a nurse attorney before dealing with such accusation cases.
At the time of the initial incident, she was employed as an RN at a medical facility in Abilene, Texas, and had been in that position for two (2) years and seven (7) months.
On or about January 22, 2021, while employed as an RN at a medical facility in Abilene, Texas, RN entered a verbal order to discontinue 2 mg Dilaudid by mouth (PO) and change to 2 mg Dilaudid intravenously (IV) for a patient, without questioning or clarifying the high dosage with the physician. The dose was in excess of the normal IV dose for an elderly patient with reduced kidney function. Subsequently, RN administered the medication to the patient, who then became bradycardic and coded approximately six minutes later, and ultimately expired on January 25, 2021, from cardiac arrest/post-code blue complications. RN’s conduct was likely to injure the patient from adverse effects due to possible overdose of narcotic medication, including respiratory depression, bradycardia, apnea, and cardiac arrest.
In response, RN states that the patient’s primary care team had discontinued pain medications ordered by the surgeon. RN states that she asked the resident about it and was told that they discontinued and switched the medications based on the patient’s kidney function. RN states that she opened the chart and showed the resident the order which reflected Dilaudid 2 mg PO, and the resident clarified by removing his mask to make sure she could understand him and said that was incorrect, he wanted the medication IV. RN states that she asked the resident if he wanted the medication IV instead of PO and the same milligrams in which he confirmed yes; he did want her to change the order. RN then entered the verbal order into the computer. RN states that later, the patient reported pain, so she checked the patient’s vital signs and administered the IV Dilaudid over 2 minutes. RN states that the patient reported relief from her pain, so RN went to check her other patients. Not long after that, RN states that she was called by the emergency telemetry line and was told that the patient’s heart rate was dropping critically low. RN states that she ran to the room and found the patient unresponsive, with no pulse; staff arrived with the crash cart and RN administered Narcan. They obtained a return of circulation and transferred the patient to the intensive care unit.
The above actions constitute grounds for disciplinary action in accordance with Section 301.452(b)(10)&(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)&(1)(P) and 22 TEX. ADMIN. CODE §217.12(1)(A),(1)(B)&(4).
However, without enough evidence to prove she’s not guilty, the RN lost the case. This is the reason why the Texas Board of Nursing placed her RN license under disciplinary action.
Do not be stressed or anxious if you find yourself in a similar situation as that of the RN mentioned above. All you need to do is to find the right RN/LVN license attorney who can help you in the case. Equip yourself with the knowledge and expertise you need for a successful outcome by consulting a knowledgeable and experienced Texas RN/LVN license attorney. Texas Nurse Attorney Yong J. An is 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.