An experienced nurse attorney has surely helped a lot of RNs and LVNs when it comes to cases that may lead to disciplinary action. Unfortunately, not all nurses were able to hire a nurse attorney as they underwent such cases.
At the time of the initial incident, an RN was employed as a registered nurse at a hospital facility in Austin, Texas for six (6) months.
On or about May 5, 2016, while employed as a Registered Nurse, the RN failed to administer scheduled medications to a patient, as ordered by a physician. Specifically, said the patient was to receive Lovenox at 0900; however, the RN did not administer the dose until 1616. The RN’s conduct exposed the patient to a risk of harm in that that failure to administer medication as ordered by a physician could have resulted in non-efficacious treatment.
On or about December 26, 2016, while employed as a Registered Nurse, the RN failed to carry out and notify Telemetry that there was a written Telemetry Order for a patient. Subsequently, the patient was not placed on telemetry monitoring until the following shift. The RN’s conduct was likely to injure the patient in that significant changes in the patient’s status may have gone undetected and prevented a timely intervention.
On or about January 27, 2017, while employed as a Registered Nurse, the RN failed to timely administer scheduled medications to a patient, as ordered by a physician. The RN’s conduct exposed the patient to a risk of harm and that failure to administer medications as ordered by a physician could have resulted in non-efficacious treatment.
On or about February 23, 2017, while employed as a Registered Nurse, the RN failed to initiate appropriate nursing interventions regarding a patient in that she failed to recognize acute de-compensation and escalate care of a said patient whose oxygen saturations were at 50% with an alarm sounding. The RN’s conduct exposed the patient to the risk of harm in that significant changes in the patient’s status may have gone undetected and prevented a timely intervention and/or delay in an escalation of care.
On or about April 10, 2017, while employed as a Registered Nurse, the RN failed to administer scheduled oral Ativan to a patient, as ordered by a physician, and instead administered intravenous (IV) Ativan from an as-needed order for anxiety. The RN’s conduct exposed the patient to a risk of harm in that failure to administer medication as ordered by a physician could have resulted in non-efficacious treatment.
In response to the incidents above and with regards to the Lovenox, the RN states she had to draw a level before she gave the dose; however, the vascular access team did not come on time and that is the reason for the late dose. The RN also states that she was also busy and lost track of time. Regarding the telemetry order, the RN states the telemetry order was written later and she did not see it. She states she did not fail to carry out the order, she was very busy and this was an oversight. Regarding failure to administer scheduled medications, the RN states the patient left the unit and returned after the scheduled time, hence the late administration. With regard to the patient with low oxygen saturation levels, the RN states this patient had a history of low oxygen saturation due to the disease process. She states the patient’s oxygen would decrease for a moment and return back to baseline. The RN states she was at another end of the unit charting when she saw two nurses go in to check on the patient; however, the patient’s level had settled so they left with no intervention. Regarding the administration of intravenous Ativan, the RN states this patient was having withdrawals and there was an intravenous PRN (as needed) Ativan order to give if the patient was having withdrawal. She states the patient was placed on oral Ativan the day before, but the dose was not available to give at the time. The RN states she let the Nurse Practitioner know, who told her to wait for the oral dose, but she had already given the dose because the patient was having withdrawals.
The following incident and defense against the case caused the Texas Board of Nursing to place the RN and her license into disciplinary proceedings. She would have sought assistance from a good nurse attorney to provide clarifications for the case.
If you’ve ever done any errors during your shift as an RN or LVN, and you wish to preserve your career and your license, an experienced nurse attorney is what you need. Nurse Attorney Yong J. An, an experienced nurse lawyer for various licensing cases for 14 years, can assist you by contacting him at (832) 428-5679.