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Leaving your nursing assignment while or during a shift without notifying the appropriate staff is clearly a violation of the Nursing Practice Act. This may result in a great risk of harm to patients. It is also considered negligence of duty. A nurse having such a violation will be summoned by the Texas Board of Nursing and will be sanctioned. Before facing the Board, a nurse should come prepared by having a nurse attorney for the defense. An example of such a violation happened to an RN in Austin, Texas.

At the time of the initial incident, an RN was employed as a Registered Nurse at a hospital in Austin, Texas, and had been in that position for three (3) months.

On or about May 3, 201 9, while employed as a Registered Nurse, the RN left the facility during his shift without notifying the appropriate staff. In addition, the RN texted a co-worker stating he “went to lunch and never went back” and indicated he was at another job. The RN’s conduct exposed the patients unnecessarily to the risk of harm in that leaving the nursing assignment could have resulted in patients not getting the care needed.

In response, the RN admits he left his shift and did not return. He also states that he was asked to help a different unit, however, he was not given a report when he asked and was told to help when he was needed. The RN states he told the nurse aide that he was leaving for lunch. And that he regrets not returning from lunch, however, the care team was unreceptive and lacked communication with him.

The above actions constitute grounds for disciplinary action in accordance with Section 301.452(b)(10)&(13), Texas Occupations Code, and are a violation of 22 TEX. ADMIN. CODE.

Because of this, the RN was summoned by the Texas Board of Nursing to defend her side but the RN failed to hire a nurse attorney to help her with her case and without proper defense, the Texas Board of Nursing then decided to place her LVN license under disciplinary action.

If you also received a letter from the Texas Board of Nursing regarding a case or complaint filed against you, you should hire a nurse attorney immediately before it’s too late. Equip yourself with the knowledge and expertise you need for a successful outcome by consulting a knowledgeable and experienced Texas nurse attorney. Texas Nurse Attorney Yong J. An is one of those dedicated nurse attorneys who helped represent more than 200 nurse cases over the past 16 years. Contact the Law Office of Yong J. An, 24/7 through text or call at (832) 428-4579 for a confidential consultation regarding any accusations from the Texas BON.