In Texas, the government has created a special agency that has the jurisdiction to handle controversies and cases involving the nursing profession. This tribunal is called the Texas Board of Nursing (BON). Every RN or LVN subjected to a disciplinary proceeding or administrative case before the Board is given an opportunity to be heard and defend himself from all accusations. Thus, every nurse with a pending case before the Texas Board of Nursing (BON) is encouraged to hire a good nurse attorney.
At the time of the incident, she was employed as an RN with a hospice care provider in Victoria, Texas, and had been in that position for four (4) months.
On or about August 16, 2020, while employed as an RN with a hospice care provider in Victoria, Texas, and assigned to provide care to residents at a rehabilitation facility in Victoria, Texas, RN inaccurately cosigned the death pronouncement and/or order of death of a resident that occurred eighteen (18) days earlier when she was not present at the facility. RN’s conduct resulted in an inaccurate medical record.
In response, RN states that she was asked to sign the resident’s order of death behind the name of the Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) to acknowledge the patient’s death on a facility form. RN states that she was told to write a generic order to cover the death in the facility because she was unaware of all the death assessment findings that the LVN reported to the doctor. RN states that she asked management about it and was instructed to sign and acknowledge that the patient expired. RN states that she has signed behind LVN’s acknowledging orders in her career and did not think this was any different. RN states that she did not sign to show she was at the death visit, only acknowledging the LVN signature.
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)(D) and 22 TEX. ADMIN. CODE §217.12(1)(A)&(1)(B).
As a result, the Texas Board of Nursing decided to place her RN license under disciplinary action. It’s too bad that she failed to hire a nurse attorney for assistance, knowing that she had every reason to defend herself in the first place. Her defense would have gotten better if she sought legal consultation from a Texas nurse attorney as well.
So, if you’re facing a complaint from the Board, it’s best to seek legal advice first. Texas Nurse Attorney Yong J. An is willing to assist every nurse in need of immediate help for nurse licensing cases. He is an experienced nurse attorney for various licensing cases for the past 16 years and represented over 200 nurses before the Texas BON. To contact him, please dial (832)-428-5679 for a confidential consultation or for more inquiries.
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