It is clear that a nurse’s responsibility is all about the patient’s well-being. A nurse’s responsibility to the patient is to utilize her education and training as an LVN to stabilize the patient whenever needed in a prompt situation. If a nurse faces such circumstances and being summoned by the Board due to such an issue, a nurse is given the right to legal counsel. This is why RNs/LVNs should hire a nurse attorney for assistance and help in regard to such cases.
An incident happened when an LVN was employed as a Licensed Vocational Nurse at a hospital in Frisco, Texas. It was on July 22, 2018, the LVN was working as a medication aide.
On July 22, 2018, the patient was scheduled to have a blood pressure medication, hydralazine, administered at 3:00 p.m. The LVN noticed that the patient was not in her room at 3:00 p.m. for the administration of the medication. The LVN informed the charge nurse about the absence of the patient. The Charge Nurse told the LVN that the patient was out with her family until dinner time.
At 5:00 p.m., the LVN observed the patient in her room and took her blood pressure. The blood pressure reading was 177/72, pulse rate 70. The LVN informed the Charge Nurse about the patient’s elevated blood pressure and awaited further orders. The LVN testified that she advised the Charge Nurse to administer the blood pressure medication and inform the doctor of further intervention. The Charge Nurse responded that “she was the charge rime and that the LVN was only the med aide.
The LVN states that she followed the Charge Nurse for over two hours to get the Charge Nurse to administer medication to the patient and notify the physician. She stated that the Charge Nurse got angry with her, cursed at her, and told her to “back off.”
The physician’s orders stated that the physician should be notified if the patient’s blood pressure is greater than 150.7 the medical records indicated that at 7:10 p.m., the patient’s blood pressure reading was 240/118, and the Charge Nurse administered hydralazine to the patients. The LVN states that the Charge Nurse notified the physician only after the LVN told the Charge Nurse that the LVN would call the doctor if the Charge Nurse did not. The LVN also states that if she were the charge nurse that day, she would have handled things differently. The LVN acknowledged that 240/118 was a dangerously high blood pressure level. The VLN also stated that this had been a learning experience and that she would manage such situations better in the future.
The LVN failed to care adequately for a patient or conform to the minimum standards of acceptable nursing practice in a manner that the Board finds exposes a patient or other person unnecessarily to risk of harm under Code § 301.452(b)(13). It is uncontroverted that the patient’s medication was not administered in accordance with the physician’s orders. The physician’s orders also required the physician to be notified if the blood pressure was above 150. At approximately 5:00 p.m., the LVN read the patient’s blood pressure to be 177/72, which was an elevated blood pressure level that should have prompted notification of the physician. However, the LVN did not notify the physician. Instead, the LVN followed the Charge Nurse for approximately two hours, advising her to administer the medication and inform the physician.
The record shows that the LVN believed she was not in a position to intervene or contact the physician because she was not the charge nurse that day. Despite her role as a medication aide that day, the LVN still held a responsibility to the patient to utilize her education and training as an LVN to stabilize the patient with elevated blood pressure in a timely manner. The LVN failed to appropriately intervene and notify the physician of the patient’s condition.
The above incident determines the LVN’s violations, related to adequacy of care and is sanction under Section 301.452(b)(13). This resulted in the LVN’s disciplinary action. She even failed to hire a nurse attorney to help and assist her with the case.
Make sure to find the right nurse attorney in case a complaint will be filed against you. Consult with Texas BON nurse attorney Yong J. An today if you have any questions about your disciplinary process by calling or texting him at (832) 428-5679 day, night or weekends.