Losing your license may greatly affect your future career, but only if you failed to hire a nurse attorney for the case. There are some RNs and LVNs who missed their chances to get their license saved from revocation just because they weren’t able to hire any nurse attorney to defend them. Unfortunately, an RN from Chamber County, Texas happens to be one of them when she administered blood platelets to a patient which is supposed to be administered to a different patient.
On the night of April 12, 2015, the RN worked a university as a level 2 RN in the surgical intensive care unit (ICU) and was assigned to a patient as a one-to-one nurse during the night shift. The patient was in critical condition after a liver transplant and physicians placed an order into the computer for the patient to receive blood platelets. The order was sent to the technician at the blood bank.
Because the patient was in critical condition, the RN sent another nurse to retrieve the blood platelets. The nurse brought back and gave to the RN a bag of blood platelets ordered for another patient, rather than the platelets ordered for the RN’s patient.
The RN and the other nurse performed the first step of the two patient identifier protocol by matching the information on the requisition form for the blood platelets with the information printed on the bag of blood platelets.
The RN failed to perform the second step of the two patient identifier protocol, which would have included matching the information on the bag of blood platelets with the information on the patient’s wristband.
The RN did not check the patient’s wristband closely and failed to use two patient identifiers before administering the platelets to the patient. Her wristband was cut off during the prior surgery and a newly-made wristband was in the patient’s room near the computer.
The Texas Board of Nursing was not able to reach out to the RN due to the actions that she did. However, there was enough evidence which proved the errors of her actions. Additionally, she failed to hire a nurse attorney for assistance, causing her to lose her RN license.
Losing your LVN or RN license can compromise your career. However, a skilled nurse attorney can greatly help you in major cases such as this. For assistance regarding your nurse license case, it’s best to contact Nurse Attorney Yong J. An by contacting him at (832) 428-5679.