Accusations of negligence are something that a nurse attorney could be of great help for some nurses. However, some nurses tend to forget this fact because they really felt like they should be responsible even if they never intended to commit such an error.
On or about March 1, 2017, through March 4, 2017, an LVN from Houston failed to ensure that the medication administration record (MAR) for the month of March reflected the correct orders for insulin for a patient. As a result, her nursing staff incorrectly administered Humalog Sliding Scale Insulin, which had been discontinued on February 2, 2017, and Lantus 40 units instead of 34 units, to the patient.
The LVN’s conduct exposed the resident to a risk of harm in that failure to administer medications as ordered by the physician could have resulted in the non-efficacious treatment of the resident’s condition.
This issue was filed as a complaint and sent to the Texas Board of Nursing. The Texas Board of Nursing has full jurisdiction in all cases that may affect the status of an RN or LVN’s license in the future. But they advise nurses to attend a hearing first before placing the sentence, which the LN attended for her career’s security.
During the hearing, the LVN states that the March MARs did not get “recapped” by the ADON because she had not been trained by the previous ADON to do so. She adds that it was the responsibility of the previous ADON to do the training. The LVN states the current ADON said she thought the night shift had done it. She also states she trained her nurses to come to her with any concerns; however, the ADON did not express any uncertainty. She states she does not know what happened to the TAR for the patient and states the other nurses said it was there at the beginning of the month.
However, the LVN failed to attend the hearing or even failed to at least hire a nurse attorney to help her defend her case.
As a result, the Texas Board of Nursing placed her LVN license to disciplinary action. It’s too bad that she failed to hire a nurse attorney for assistance, knowing that she had every reason to defend herself in the first place. Her defense would have gotten better if she actually sought legal consultation from a Texas nurse attorney as well.
So if you’re facing a complaint from the Board, it’s best to seek legal advice first. Texas Nurse Attorney Yong J. An is willing to assist every nurse in need of immediate help for nurse licensing cases. To contact him, please dial (832)-428-5679 for a confidential consultation or for more inquiries.