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 LVN in Memphis could’ve done this but failed to hire a good nurse attorney.
At the time of the incident, the LVN was employed in a hospital in Memphis and had been working in the facility for more than a year.
On or about December 7, 2016, the LVN failed to document her interventions when a patient fell on the ground and sustained visible injuries. Additionally, she failed to call a physician, and/or call Emergency Medical Services (EMS). Subsequently, the resident was transferred to the hospital for a higher level of care and treated for a hip/pelvic fracture and head injury.
The LVN’s conduct was likely to injure the resident in that subsequent caregivers would rely on her documentation to further care for the resident. Additionally, her conduct exposed the resident to a risk of harm from a delay in an escalation of care.
The Texas Board of Nursing took action to the case, summoning the LVN to defend against the accusation. The LVN states that soon as the resident care staff notified her that the resident was on the floor, she gathered equipment for vitals and ran down the hall to see if the resident was ok. — she states that she noticed the resident had a gash on her forehead and she stopped the bleeding while assessing to see if the resident had any further injuries.
The LVN further states that a residential care staff member assisted her with stabilizing the resident on the floor to avoid any further injury as the resident stated that she was hurting. She states that this was all in the time span of 5 minutes at most. She states that protocol at the facility at the time was to notify the Administrator and the RN for the green light to ship the resident out of the facility for further evaluation.
The LVN further states that she went to notify the Administrator in the dining hall so that she could call 911, but the Administrator asked that she wait and have the Director of Nursing (DON) assess the resident first. She states that she was instructed to call the DON on her phone and was told that the DON would let her know if she could call 911.
The LVN states that while she was on the phone with the DON, the resident’s niece walked in with a friend, and she advised that she go to the room where the resident had fallen. The LVN states that this was about 7-10 minutes into the fall. She states that when she told the resident’s family what she was instructed to do, the family called 911.
The LVN states that the DON was at the facility within 5 minutes, and when she instructed Respondent to call 911, the ambulance had arrived. She states that the policy at the time did not make sense, but since she was a new nurse and this was her first job, she followed facility protocol. She states that after the incident, a message was placed on the communications board that there were no longer any restrictions on sending residents out and that it was left to nursing judgment.
The Texas Board of Nursing has full jurisdiction over all cases that may affect the LVN 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 LVN license to disciplinary action to ensure that she will never commit such acts again.
The case would have yielded a different result if the LVN was able to hire a 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.