In nursing care obtaining the correct diagnosis or result is very important. By doing so, the patient can receive the right treatment he/she needs. If an RN fails to do it correctly and if something bad happens to the patient due to the RN’s misconduct, the RN will be subjected to disciplinary action by the Board. The RN involved with such a case can ask for help from a nurse attorney.
At the time of the incident, she was employed as an RN at a hospital in Allen, Texas, and had been in that position for nine (9) months.
On or about July 13, 2020, while employed as an RN at a hospital in Allen, Texas, RN failed to assess the vital signs, including the oxygen saturation level, of a patient, or ensure that the vital signs were taken by the patient care assistant and entered into the medical record. The physician ordered continuous pulse oximeter monitoring for the patient which was not implemented. Additionally, RN failed to document in the patient’s medical record regarding the initial shift assessment performed around 0900, or interventions when the patient was found with a change in condition at 0930. A Code Blue was called at 1000 and the patient was transferred to a higher level of care and expired the next day. RN’s conduct resulted in an incomplete medical record and exposed the patient to a risk of harm from undetected and untreated fluctuations in cardiac or respiratory status.
In response, RN states that she first saw the patient around 0730 when she received the report; the patient was sleeping, snoring, and breathing seventeen breaths per minute. RN states that she returned at 0900 to complete her nursing assessment and the patient care assistant (PCA) was present at the bedside as a sitter since the patient had been agitated and confused overnight. RN states that she typically allows an hour for the PCA to log all the vitals for the morning, and she intended to check back in with the experienced PCA to make sure that the vitals were entered into the patient’s chart. RN states that she fully intended to chart her morning assessment, but the patient was transferred to the intensive care unit following the code and she forgot to go back and chart the completed assessment. RN states that the night shift nurse did not comply with the order for continuous pulse oximeter monitoring because there is no access to this machine on the medical/surgical floor. RN states that she called central supply at 0900 and was waiting for someone to bring her the machine. RN states that the patient was groggy at the time of her assessment, but she did not feel this was unusual since he had been given Ativan the night before; she did not notice until 0930 when she saw that the PCA was no longer in the patient’s room that the patient’s status had changed.
The above actions constitute grounds for disciplinary action in accordance with Section 301.452(b)(10)&(13), Texas Occupations Code, and are a violation of 22 TEX. ADMIN. CODE §217.11(1)(A),(1)(B),(1)(D)&(1)(M) and 22 TEX. ADMIN. CODE §217.12(1)(A),(1)(B)&(4).
The Texas Board of Nursing then subjected the RN and her license to disciplinary action. The accusation would have been defended by an experienced and skilled Texas Nursing Law Attorney, had the RN hired one. Hiring a Texas Nursing Law Attorney for defense is applicable for any kind of accusation laid against an RN or LVN.
For more details and to schedule a confidential consultation, you must approach one of the most experienced Texas Nurse attorneys, Nurse Attorney Yong J. An. He is an experienced nurse attorney who represented more than 200 nurse cases for RNs and LVNs for the past 16 years. You can call him at (832)-428-5679 to get started or to inquire for more information regarding nursing license case defenses.
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