All nurses have orders to be followed to ensure a patient is on the right track to recovery. Missing an order or inaccurate execution of a physician’s order could harm a patient which could result in a poor outcome. If you are accused of negligence, seek help from a nurse attorney. You should know ways to defend your stand against such accusations or allegations. Hiring a nurse attorney can surely help.
At the time of the incident, she was employed as an RN with a home healthcare services provider in Temple, Texas, and had been in that position for two (2) weeks.
On or about February 5, 2020, while employed as an RN with a home healthcare services provider in Temple, Texas, RN failed to follow physician orders in her care of a patient with a tracheostomy who was ventilator-dependent, in that RN failed to have the patient on continuous pulse oximetry and failed to change the patient’s tracheostomy and/or suction the tracheostomy when the patient experienced respiratory distress. Subsequently, the patient experienced respiratory arrest, required cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and was emergently transferred to the hospital, where the patient ultimately expired. RN’s conduct may have contributed to the patient’s demise.
In response, RN states that, according to the patient’s mother, the patient did not have an order for continuous oxygen monitoring since the patient was not on continuous oxygen. RN states that the oxygen monitor would be taken off to allow the patient to play. RN states that she transferred the patient from the floor to the bed and did not put the oxygen monitor on the patient, but she was beside the patient and monitored her. RN states that the patient woke up from the nap and showed signs of respiratory distress. RN states she checked the tracheostomy and noticed it was inside, but bent, so she straightened it and connected oxygen to the ventilator. When the patient continued to have difficulty in breathing, RN states she connected the ambu bag for rescue breathing and yelled for the physical therapist to call 911. RN states she started CPR and the tracheostomy had good flow, so there was no need to change it.
The above action constitutes grounds for disciplinary action in accordance with Section 301.452(b)(10)&(13), Texas Occupations Code, and is a violation of 22 TEX. ADMIN. CODE §217.11(1)(A),(1)(B),(1)(C),(1)(M)&(3)(A) and 22 TEX. ADMIN. CODE §217.12.(1)(B)&(4).
As a result, the Texas Board of Nursing decided to place her RN license under disciplinary action. It’s too bad that she failed to hire a nurse attorney for assistance, knowing that she had every reason to defend herself in the first place. Her defense would have gotten better if she 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.