In nursing care, nurse visits and a complete and accurate medical record, in a timely manner, bring positive outcomes on the health improvement of a patient. Failure to timely document with incorrect and inaccurate health information of a patient means poor outcome. This shows that accurate documentation of health information has a huge impact on a patient’s recovery. But if an LVN, improperly executed such a task in nursing care, the Board may put the LVN’s license into disciplinary action. If this happens, it is essential to seek help from a nurse attorney.
At the time of the initial incident, she was employed as an LVN at a hospital in New Braunfels, Texas, and had been in that position for three (3) years and five (5) months.
On or about May 28, 2020, while employed as an LVN at a hospital in New Braunfels, Texas, LVN failed to appropriately intervene, including timely notification to the physician and reassessment of blood glucose levels, when notified by the laboratory at 0929 hours that a patient had a critically low glucose testing result of 43 mg/dL. LVN again failed to timely notify the provider when the patient experienced ongoing hypoglycemia during the shift and experienced another critically low glucose result of 40 mg/dL at 1630 hours. The patient required transfer to the hospital after shift change. Furthermore, LVN failed to accurately document glucose testing results in the patient’s medical record. LVN’s conduct created an inaccurate medical record and was likely to injure the patient from delayed medical treatment.
In response, LVN states the lab notified her of the low glucose after the patient had already eaten breakfast and been seen by the nurse practitioner. LVN also states the nursing assistant did not notify her of any critical glucose readings. LVN further states she notified the nurse practitioner of the patient’s low glucose level and did not receive any new orders. LVN states she was denied the opportunity to enter a late chart note.
The above actions constitute 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)(D),(1)(M),(1)(P)&(2) and 22 TEX. ADMIN. CODE §217.12(1)(A),(1)(B),(1)(C)&(4).
The evidence against the LVN was strong. At the same time, she was not able to properly defend her case in court. As a result, her nursing license was placed under disciplinary action.
Avoid a similar thing from happening on your end. Make sure to find the right defense attorney in case a complaint will be filed against you before the Texas Board of Nursing (BON). For more details or for a confidential consultation regarding accusations, it’s best to contact an experienced Texas nurse attorney. Texas Nurse Attorney Yong J. An 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.
Oct20L180191MO