When the Texas Board of Nursing (BON) has a complaint against you, you should seek the nurse attorney. Any RN or LVN found guilty for violating the state laws and regulations may be subjected to a disciplinary case such as revocation or suspension of her RN or LVN license. The trend is for employers to refer a case to the Texas Board of Nursing to discipline nurse and at the same time terminate your employment in most of the cases.
One of the best examples includes the following:
The incident happened on or about July 1, 2013, through June 29, 2016 in a medical clinic in Houston. During this time period, the RN issued prescriptions for controlled substances, which included dangerous drug cocktails, without conducting appropriate assessments to justify her prescribing practices and ordering other treatment options in lieu of prescribing dangerous controlled substances to her patients.
When summoned by the Texas Board of Nursing, the RN denies non-therapeutically prescribing a controlled substance to a patient. She states during this time fame she was continuously employed with the primary focus of her practice being in pain management.
The RN further states accounting for weekends and holidays, this amounts to a daily average of approximately 8.5 prescriptions for controlled substances per work day. She states this number fails to take into account non-pain patients who were prescribed scheduled medications such as hypnotics. She states she prescribed controlled substances to patients in a safe manner pursuant to their individual medical circumstances.
The RN additionally states all the patients listed in allegation had received treatment for chronic pain prior to coming under her care. She states most of these patients had been receiving treatment for many years and had failed numerous first and second-tier treatment modalities including physical therapy, massage, chiropractic care, non-scheduled analgesics and anti-inflammatories, injections, interventional procedures from pain specialist, and surgeries.
The RN acknowledges it is not her responsibility to blindly continue a preexisting care plan, however, the patient’s prior treatment history is plainly relevant to their care. She states she followed a standard assessment protocol approved by her delegating physician. She states as reflected in patient charts, past records were always requested multiple times even if they were ultimately unanswered. She states the standard protocol for follow-up visits included repeat urine screens and rechecks of the patient’s prescription profile with PAT.
The RN states for any patient prescribed a controlled substance such as those listed in allegation she went over the potential risks and side effects of their medication. She states all patients were required to enter into a pain contract wherein they agreed to adhere their treatment program and conditions. The RN additionally states side effects were addressed on each visit and dependent on how the patient did or did not benefit from their treatment regimen, their care plan would be adjusted.
However, the Texas Board of Nursing found the RN’s conduct fell below the minimum standards of nursing practice. Due to this, the RN was disciplined and her license was suspended.
Do you have questions about the Texas Board of Nursing disciplinary process? Contact The Law Office of nurse attorney Yong J. An for a confidential consultation by calling or texting 24/7 at (832) 428-5679 and ask for nurse attorney Yong.