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The Texas Board of Nursing is known to be very strict when it comes to all actions of nurses, which is why a nurse attorney is needed when attending hearings before the Board. The Texas Board of Nursing does not allow those who wish to exceed the scope of their practice as an RN or LVN. This is what exactly happened to a certain RN in Lubbock, but failed to hire a good nurse attorney.

At the time of the incident, the RN was employed in a university in Lubbock and had been working in the facility for four years already.

On or about March 31, 2015 through December 19, 2016, the RN’s care for her patient was inadequate and fell below the minimum standards of nursing practice, in that she failed to perform appropriate assessments or examinations and/or failed to document appropriate assessments or examinations, misinterpreted and/or ignored laboratory test results, incorrectly diagnosed patient, failed to document the medical rationale for treatment, and prescribed testosterone and thyroid hormone in a manner that put the patient at risk of harm from complications attributable to high amounts of testosterone and thyroid hormone.

The RN initiated high doses of testosterone and thyroid hormone for the patient despite lab values showing the patient’s testosterone and thyroid levels were initially within normal limits. Further, the RN documented “labs within optimal range” and continued to prescribe high doses of testosterone and thyroid hormone to the patient when lab values indicated high amounts of testosterone and thyroid hormone that were above normal limits.

The RN’s apparent diagnosis of testicular hypofunction and hypothyroidism in the patient were contradicted by laboratory test results ordered by the RN and were not supported by documentation in the patient’s medical records.

The RN’s conduct failed to institute and/or failed to document institution of appropriate interventions, such as dose adjustment, phlebotomy, testing of the patient’s thyroid-stimulating hormone, and/or referrals, when the patient’s abnormal laboratory results indicated high amounts of testosterone and thyroid hormone. Further, she failed to collaborate with a delegating physician and/or failed to document collaboration with a delegating physician.

As a result, the Texas Board of Nursing decided to sentence her RN license to disciplinary action to ensure that she will never commit such acts again. The Texas Board of Nursing has full jurisdiction over all cases that may affect the RN 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.

The case would have yielded a different result if the RN was able to hire a nurse attorney. So if you also have the same cases or concerns, it’s best to contact Nurse Attorney Yong J. An for further details. You may contact him at (832) 428-5679 to get a schedule for a confidential consultation.