Being a registered or a licensed nurse in the state of Texas can be highly rewarding. It feels good for every RN nurse or LVN nurse to attend to the varying needs of several patients. However, the nursing profession is also equally challenging. There is a need for possessors of nursing license to observe the administrative rules laid down by the Texas Board of Nursing (BON).
The Texas Board of Nursing (BON) is the government agency that has the authority to hear and decide disciplinary or administrative cases filed against a RN nurse or LVN nurse. The Board has the power to revoke or suspend the license of a particular erring RN or LVN nurse. As a matter of fact, there is an increasing rate for the number of revocation or suspension orders issued by the Texas Board of Nursing (BON).
Whenever a nurse is found to have committed any grave misconduct or wrongful act in the practice of nursing, one of the remedies available to the aggrieved party is to file a case before the Texas Board of Nursing (BON). This is what happened to the case of Lindsey who is a registered nurse working in a state hospital.
On or about January 14, 2017, while employed as a staff nurse with a hospital in San Antonio, Texas, the RN nurse failed to document the waste of excess Morphine and Ativan that was pulled out of the dispensing system. However, the medications were never administered to the patient. For this reason, it resulted in an inaccurate and incomplete medical record. Aside from this, the RN nurse’s conduct also exposed the patient to risk of harm in that subsequent care givers would rely on his documentation in order to provide further patient care.
In response to the complaint, the RN nurse stated that she was counseled by the Facility at the time of the incident. Aside from this, she also highlighted the fact that the result of her drug screen was negative. She also said that his work performance has improved since the incident, and that he has taken proper measures to decrease or eliminate problems concerning narcotics wastage on his unit.
When the case was filed against the RN nurse, he did not do anything about it. He was confident that there was neither wrongdoing nor misconduct on his part that would warrant the revocation of the license. At the end of the hearing of the case, he was eventually found guilty for the charges. This resulted to the revocation of his nursing license. What Lindsey should have done was to contact a reliable nursing defense attorney who can help him with the case. Unfortunately, he merely waited for the decision of the Texas Board of Nursing (BON) without defending himself at all.
Questions about the Texas Board of Nursing disciplinary process? Contact The Law Office of Yong J. An for a confidential consultation by calling or texting 24/7 at (832) 428-5679 and ask for attorney Yong.