The Texas Board of Nursing has full jurisdiction over all cases that may affect the RN / 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. When you are summoned by the Texas BON on cases of failure to provide proper care to your patient, you will need the expertise of an experienced nurse attorney to defend your case in court.
At the time of the initial incident, he was employed as an RN with a rehabilitation facility in Killeen, Texas, and had been in that position for three (3) years.
On or about March 6, 2020 through March 9, 2020, while employed as an RN at a rehabilitation facility in Killeen, Texas, RN did the following:
- RN exceeded his scope of practice by performing telephone triage when Direct Care Staff of a patient informed the RN of the patient’s burns and subsequent seizure activity. RN’s conduct was likely to harm the patient in that RN was not educationally prepared to perform triage which requires comprehensive assessment skills.
- RN failed to timely notify the Registered Nurse when Direct Care Staff of the aforementioned patient informed the RN of the patient’s burns and subsequent seizure activity. Approximately seven (7) hours later, the patient was taken to the emergency room by a family member and the patient was diagnosed with first degree burns to both hands. Subsequently, the RN informed the Registered Nurse of the incidents the following day. RN’s conduct was likely to injure the patient from delayed treatment.
In response, RN states when he received a call about the burn, RN instructed staff to run the patient’s hand under cool water and wrap it in a loose bandage. Later he received a text with pictures of burns, so he directed staff to offer Tylenol for pain relief and talk to the patient about leaving the burn alone. Subsequently, staff reported seizure activity and RN states he told staff to swipe the patient’s magnet and administer Klonopin. Then, RN called the patient’s mother about the seizure to determine if the mother wanted RN to call 911, or if the mother wanted to check on the patient herself.
The above actions constitute grounds for disciplinary action in accordance with Section 301.463(b)(10)&(13), Texas Occupations Code, and are a violation of 22 TEX. ADMIN. CODE §217.11(1)(A),(1)(B),(1)(D),(1)(G),(1)(M),(1)(P)&(1)(T) and 22 TEX. ADMIN. CODE §217.12(1)(A),(1)(B),(1)(E)&(4).
As a result, the Texas Board of Nursing decided to place his RN license under disciplinary action. It’s too bad that he failed to hire a nurse attorney for assistance, knowing that he had every reason to defend himself in the first place. His defense would have gotten better if he sought legal consultation from a Texas nurse attorney as well.
So, if you’re facing a complaint from the Board, it’s best to seek legal advice first. Texas Nurse Attorney Yong J. An is willing to assist every nurse in need of immediate help for nurse licensing cases. He is an experienced nurse attorney for various licensing cases for the past 16 years and represented over 300 nurses before the Texas BON. To contact him, please dial (832)-428-5679 for a confidential consultation or for more inquiries.