Nurses facing cases they never committed should hire a nurse attorney to strengthen their defense. Professional help can provide a better form of defense against the Texas Board of Nursing as an RN or LVN faces an accusation of any charges they wish to deny. This is just one of the many cases the RN from Carrollton, Texas should have known had she only hired a nurse attorney to help her.
At the time of the initial incident, an RN was employed as a Registered Nurse at a hospital in Carrollton, Texas, and had been in that position for one (1) year and (8) months.
It was on or about August 20, 2018, the RN inappropriately left a medication syringe, pre-filled with Ativan, unattended at her work station. The RN’s conduct was likely to result in a loss to the facility and/or harm to consumers.
And on or about September 26, 2018, the RN failed to assess and/or document her assessment of a patient, upon assuming care of the patient. The patient, who had been discharged from the Emergency Department four hours prior, had returned with complaints of vomiting coffee-ground emesis, and later tested positive for gastric occult blood. The RN’s conduct created an incomplete medical record and was likely to injure the patient from unknown and/or undetected changes in the patient’s condition.
In response, the RN states the medication syringe, prefilled with Ativan, was prepared per physician order. The syringe was pre-filled to allow for immediate use if needed. It was briefly and inadvertently left at the RN’s workstation while she attended to a different patient. The RN is aware of the hospital’s policy and the importance of not leaving any medications unattended. The RN immediately corrected the situation upon becoming aware of the issue. The nurse workstation utilized by the RN was in an enclosed area within the emergency room that does not have patient access.
In addition, the RN states she recalls the patient was experiencing gastrointestinal symptoms, potentially internal bleeding that resulted in his repeated admissions to the emergency room over a 2- 3-day period of time. The RN recalls being one of the primary nurses that attended to his patient during his second admission to the ER. She took over care from an off-going shift nurse who had already performed an initial evaluation of the patient. The RN performed her own completed head-to-toe assessment on her initial interaction with the patient. Because of immediate bedside responsibilities to other patients, she was unable to contemporaneously document her initial assessment at the time she provided patient care. However, the RN states all vital signs, nursing interventions, communications with the attending physician, and recognition of the patient’s significant findings were communicated to the physician. The RN states she appropriately documented the findings and documented informing the physician of the patient’s complaints and positive gastric occult blood.
Despite her explanation, the Texas Board of Nursing placed her under disciplinary action but without any suspension whatsoever. Hiring the right nurse attorney for this case would be of great help, but this time the RN failed to do so.
If you’re having trouble against cases that you were accused of doing, then seek the help of Nurse Attorney Yong J. An. To get started with a private consultation, you may contact him at (832) 428-5679.