Accurate and transparent documentation is a cornerstone of safe and effective patient care. However, a concerning incident transpired when an LVN failed to properly document a doctor’s verbal order for restraints, crucial for administering medications to a patient. In such instances, a nurse attorney can offer crucial support by evaluating the incident for legal and ethical compliance, advocating for the patient’s well-being, and assisting in implementing necessary changes to prevent such documentation errors in the future, while providing legal assistance to protect the LVN’s license.
At the time of the incident, she was employed as an LVN with a health care facility in Amarillo, Texas, and had been in that position for five (5) months.
On or about November 11, 2021, and November 15, 2021, while employed as an LVN with a healthcare facility in Amarillo, Texas, and assigned to provide skilled nursing care to a patient, LVN failed to document a doctor’s verbal order for restraint, for the purpose of medication administration, for the patient. Subsequently, the doctor’s office confirmed that the physician’s orders entered by LVN were not valid. LVN’s conduct could have deceived the facility and harmed the patient in that subsequent care givers would not have accurate and complete information on which to base their care decisions.
In response to the above incident, LVN states she contacted the physician to clarify their guidelines in restraining a patient for the purpose of medication administration. LVN states she received an order giving permission to “restrain” as necessary for administration of this life-saving medication. LVN states the order was entered electronically by herself after contacting the physician’s office. LVN states there was no highchair or soft chair in the patient’s home, so she used the technique as these resources were not available. LVN states she followed the policy to use restraint as a temporary measure when other resources failed.
The above actions constitute 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) and 22 TEX. ADMIN. CODE §217.12 (1)(A), (1)(B),(4),(6)(A),(6)(C),(6)(F)&(6)(H).
The Texas Board of Nursing then subjected the LVN and her license into disciplinary action. The accusation would have been defended by an experienced and skilled Texas Nurse Attorney, had the LVN hired one. Hiring a Texas Nurse Attorney for defense is applicable for any kind of accusation laid against an RN or LVN.
For more details and to schedule a confidential consultation, you must approach one of the most experienced Texas Nurse Attorneys, Yong J. An. He is an experienced nurse attorney who represented more than 500 nurse cases for RNs and LVNs for the past 17 years. You can call him at (832) 428-5679 to get started or to inquire for more information regarding nursing license case defenses.