The Texas Board of Nursing is known to be very strict when it comes to all actions of nurses, which is why a nurse attorney is needed when attending hearings before the Board. The Texas Board of Nursing does not allow those who wish to exceed the scope of their practice as an RN or LVN. A certain RN in Mesquite could’ve done this but failed to hire a good nurse attorney.
On or about April 10, 2019, through January 23, 2020, while employed as a Family Nurse Practitioner in Mesquite, the RN exceeded her authorized scope of practice by seeing sixteen (16) patients via Skype without having the required protocols or other written authorizations to provide medical aspects of care in place and failing to register her physician delegation with the Texas Medical Board. She also recommended the prescribing of Phentermine to sixteen patients without conducting appropriate assessments to justify her recommendation practices and/or exploring/ordering other treatment options in lieu of recommending dangerous controlled substances to her patients. Her conduct falls below the minimum applicable standard of care.
In addition, the RN did not meet the minimum requirements for supervisory, face-to-face meetings with her delegating physicians.
During the hearing, the RN states she was instructed to forward the Modification of Registration Physician/Assistant/Advance Practice Nurse Controlled Substances Registration to the owner of the clinic, who would the that the physician who was supposed to supervise her signed it and submitted it to the appropriate licensing agencies as required by Texas law.
She also states she did not treat the patients and did not prescribe any controlled substances to any of them. The RN states the owner of the clinic who was a physician himself, informed her he would send her the information on patients that he had already screened himself and she would meet with the patients on Skype. The RN states she went over the patients’ information with the patients when she spoke with them via Skype, and talked to the patients in more detail about their history, their current medical condition, and any problems they were having, among other various questions.
The RN states she would ensure that all consent forms had been signed and would instruct the patients that they had to submit vital signs monthly in order to be on the weight loss program. She states she was provided with a template to be used during her one-on-one online meeting with the patients and was asked to email the information to the owner once she saw a patient. The RN informed by the owner of the clinic that the Phentermine would first be shipped to him and then mailed to the patients.
The Texas Board of Nursing has full jurisdiction over all cases that may affect the RN license. The strictness of the Board also ensures that nurses will only commit to the duties they are assigned to in order to guarantee accurate and excellent performance in all hospitals throughout the state of Texas.
As a result, the Texas Board of Nursing decided to sentence her RN license to disciplinary action to ensure that she will never commit such acts again.
The case would have yielded a different result if the RN was able to hire a Mesquite nurse attorney. So if you also have the same cases or concerns, it’s best to contact Nurse Attorney Yong J. An for further details. You may contact him at (832) 428-5679 to get a schedule for a confidential consultation.