A skilled and knowledgeable nurse attorney can provide utmost assistance over cases that you may deny committing. However, a lack of a nurse attorney could subject you and your license to any possible sanction depending on the severity of your misconduct.
At the time of the initial incident, the RN was employed as a Registered Nurse at a hospital in Beaumont, Texas, and had been in that position for four (4) years and one (1) month.
An incident involving an RN in Beaumont happened just on or about December 29, 2018, the RN sent an LVN to assess the patient after staff reported he was continuing to cough, was sweating, and breathing funny, yet the RN failed to instruct the LVN to call 911 to transport the patient to the hospital for symptoms of profuse sweating, a blood pressure of 130/110 mmHg, and a pulse of 62. Instead, the RN called the patient’s sister informing her he needed to go to the emergency room (ER), and she transported him to the ER where he was admitted with pneumonia and sepsis. The patient declined, was placed on a ventilator in the ICU, and died 10 days later. The RN’s conduct resulted in a delay in emergency treatment for the patient that was needed to prevent further complications.
In regards to the incident, the RN states that she was on call on December 29th, and she instructed an LVN to go to the home to assess the patient in the morning, after she received a call on the evening of the 28th and again that morning about his cough. The RN states that the LVN apparently decided to delay the visit further and keep delivering medications. And the RN also states that she authorized the medication for cough as needed around 0830 and 1400 that day, and called the LVN again to go immediately to the home to assess. Then the RN added that she called the home to monitor the situation, however, when she called the home, there was no answer, and upon calling a neighboring home, she was surprised to learn that the staff at the home had taken the patient all out to drink; later they returned and the LVN assessed and reported that the individual was continuing to cough, was sweating, and breathing funny. The RN, lastly states that she did not instruct the LVN to call 911 as with this patient there would have been an increase in his anxiety that would have caused agitation, aggression, and harm to himself and others.
Therefore, as a result, the Texas Board of Nursing then decided to subject the RN and her license to disciplinary actions. The said discipline shall ensure the safety of the patient, along with a better future for the RN’s career. However, she should have contacted a nurse attorney in order to receive assistance regarding the case, especially if the RN sincerely thinks of it as an accusation.
For more details or for a confidential consultation regarding accusations, it’s best to contact an experienced Nurse Attorney. Yong J. An is an experienced nurse attorney who has helped RNs and LVNs defend against several cases since 2006. You can call him at (832) 428-5679 to get started or to inquire for more information regarding nursing license case defenses.