A wrong administration of medication and inaccurate medical records can bring a great risk of harm to any patient. It is part of the nurse’s duty to ensure that the patient was administered the correct medication. But if an LVN incorrectly administered the wrong medication and erroneously documented medication, there will be corresponding consequences to it. The Board may summon you and subject you to disciplinary action or even worse than that. A nurse attorney can represent any RN or LVN when facing the Texas BON.
At the time of the initial incident, she was employed as an RN at a pediatric hospital in Arlington, Texas, and had been in that position for five (5) months.
On or about July 24, 2020, while employed as an RN at a pediatric hospital in Arlington, Texas, RN incorrectly administered the antibiotic, Ertapenem, to a patient in that RN administered the medication two (2) times within a three (3) hour period when the medication was ordered to be administered every twelve hours. RN’s conduct was likely to injure the patient in that failure to administer medication as ordered could have resulted in non-efficacious treatment.
In response, RN states that she was informed at shift change that the antibiotic needed to be re-timed, as the medication was administered late on the prior shift. RN states she paged the pharmacy to have the medication re-timed. RN states that additional tasks required her attention such that she was running behind. RN states that she administered the antibiotic medication at 20:33 having failed to recall that it was the medication that was to be re-timed. RN states that there was no alert from the medication system that the antibiotic medication was being administered too early. RN states that at approximately 23:00, the antibiotic medication appeared on the patient’s medication administration record as due. RN states she prepared the antibiotic medication, scanned the medication, and administered it to the patient. RN states that, again, the medication system failed to alert that it was too early to administer the antibiotic medication. RN states that she recalled that this was the medication that was to be re-timed when she discarded the syringe. RN states she assessed the patient, collected vital signs, reviewed approved sources for any adverse side effects of the medication, and informed senior staff.
The above action constitutes 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)(F)&(3)(A) and 22 TEX. ADMIN. CODE §217.12(1)(A),(1)(B)&(1)(C).
A case was ultimately filed against her before the Texas Board of Nursing (BON). The said allegation was fatal to the RN’s capability to perform the essential functions and duties. Sad to say, the nursing defense attorney who handled her case was not able to properly defend her interests and rights before the Board. The Texas Board of Nursing (BON) found her guilty of the offense alleged in the complaint and decided to place her RN license under disciplinary action.
If you also received a letter from the Texas Board of Nursing regarding a case or complaint filed against you, you should hire a nurse attorney immediately before it’s too late. Texas Nurse Attorney Yong J. An is one of those dedicated nurse attorneys who helped represent more than 300 nurse cases for the past 16 years. You may contact him 24/7 at (832) 428-5679 for more information or if you want to schedule a private consultation.