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Nurses can be charged for incorrect administration of medication to patients which could result in an injury or harm to a patient. This can put you in a very difficult situation wherein the help of a nurse attorney is needed.

At the time of the incident, an RN was employed as a Registered Nurse at a hospital in Harlingen, Texas, and had been in that position for one (1) month.

It was on or about January 19, 2020, when the RN has incorrectly administered Sympazan forty (40) milligrams to a Patient on several occasions, though the ordered dose was for twenty (20) milligrams. Specifically, when the patient’s supply was noted to be low before time for a refill, the RN was asked about the low supply by the patient’s mother and the RN replied that she always used two (2) strips. The strips were twenty (20) milligrams each. Additionally, the RN failed to correctly document her administrations of the medication in the medication administration record. The RN documented the ordered dose and not the actual dose that she administered. The RN’s conduct exposed the patient to a risk of harm from unnecessary administration of extra doses of medication without a physician’s order.

In response to the incident, the RN states that the patient had a scheduled dose of Sympazan twenty (20) milligrams at 0300 nightly. The RN states that from the start of her training in December, each biofilm was 10 milligrams in strength, so (2) two strips were administered. The RN states that while preparing the patient’s medications, she found two (2) individual strips in their foil packaging attached to each other with the patient’s name on them. The RN states that at the time she was going through her routine and believed these strips were the same as the strips the patient had been using since December. The RN states that she erroneously believed these strips were ten (10) milligrams each and she did not notice that the concentration of the medication had changed. The RN states that she did not witness any change in the patient’s baseline behavior or vitals at this point. The RN states that in the morning, she was notified by the patient’s mother via text message inquiring about a missing Sympazan twenty (20) milligrams biofilm strip. The RN states that the mother reported that the patient had two (2) of the biofilm strips left where his daily medications were kept. The RN states that she replied that she used both of the strips. The RN states that the mother informed her that both strips left were twenty (20) milligrams doses each and that the box they had been using was two to three weeks old. The RN states that she acknowledges her medication error and accepts responsibility for her error.

The above incident resulted in disciplinary action for the RN. The Board has arrived with the decision to discipline the RN due to the RN’s misconduct. Having to deal with such a case is never easy if you are alone fighting the case. It will be easy and surely will have a different result that is in favor of you, if you have hired a nurse attorney prior to facing the Texas Board of Nursing and before the hearing starts.

Do you have questions about the Texas Board of Nursing disciplinary process; you can 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 attorney Yong.