The role of a nurse is very essential in inpatient care. A patient’s recovery with long-term health outcomes is implicated by the quality of care that nurses give to their patients. Although they give such quality care, a lot of factors hinder nurses in giving such care. Sometimes nurses make mistakes in providing patient care and can be counted as a violation of the Nursing Practice Act or to any related rules and regulations of nursing. If you are an RN and such a situation happens, always remember that a nurse attorney can help.
At the time of the incident, an RN was employed at a hospital in Midland, Texas, and had been in that position for three (3) months.
It was on or about April 14, 2019, while employed at the said hospital, the RN administered an insulin dose to a patient with an insulin pen that had already been used on another patient. Subsequently, the RN admitted to the management that she used another patient’s insulin pen because she could not find one. The RN conduct was contrary to proper infection control procedures and unnecessarily exposed the patient to a risk of contracting transferrable infectious pathogens and communicable diseases.
In response to the incident, the RN states that she contacted the pharmacy four (4) times and requested a new insulin pen for her patient because she could not find the patient’s original pen. The RN states that she still had not received the pen from the pharmacy within 2 hours, so she asked another nurse for an insulin pen because it was time for her patient to take her insulin. The RN states that this nurse confirmed that the RN could use the insulin pen for her patient, and also went with the RN to administer the insulin and sign off on the paperwork. The RN states that this insulin pen did not have a patient’s name anywhere on it, but she did put a new needle in it. The RN states that she has never used anyone else’s meds for a different patient, but on this particular day she just wanted to make sure her patient got her insulin.
As a result, her RN license was disciplined by the Texas Board of Nursing. The RN failed to hire a Texas BON nurse attorney to fully defend her case that led to this decision by the Texas Board of Nursing.
Do you have questions about the Texas Board of Nursing disciplinary process? Contact The Law Office of Nurse Attorney Yong J. An for a confidential consultation by calling or texting 24/7 at (832) 428-5679 and ask for nurse attorney Yong.
