Once a charge from the Board is filed, that case becomes public record and available for the world to see. When this happens, this makes it very difficult to get a job that takes insurance. An experienced nurse attorney knows how to avoid these pitfalls.
One of the examples where a client failed to hire the right nurse attorney will be discussed in this case.
On or about September 1, 2018, an LVN from Houston failed to verify that she had the correct patient’s chart prior to notifying the family of the patient’s death. Subsequently, she notified the incorrect family that their loved one had passed away. The LVN’s conduct disclosed patient confidential medical information without written authorization and caused the notified family undue emotional distress.
This issue was filed as a complaint and sent to the Texas Board of Nursing. The Texas Board of Nursing has full jurisdiction in all cases that may affect the status of an RN or LVN’s license in the future. But they advise nurses to attend a hearing first before placing the sentence, which the LVN attended for her career’s security.
During the hearing, the LVN states at the time there were two patients in the building with the same name and the facility did take name alert precautions by placing the patients on opposite sides of the building; her charts are stored on respective sides of the nurses’ station. According to the LVN, one of the CNAs came to retrieve her assistance after finding the other nurse’s patient unresponsive. She explains after emergency personnel arrived, she went to notify the family as requested by the other nurse and when she got to the nurse’s work station, she found the patient chart open to the face sheet and demographics tab, there was no picture displayed on the face sheet.
She states she called the number listed as the daughter on the face sheet and made the notification. The LVN states at that time, both she and the other nurse were unaware when calling 911 the CNA pulled the chart from the wrong side of the nurses’ station.
However, the LVN failed to properly present and defend her case against the court. She was disciplined warning to a suspension of her LVN license by violating the Texas Board of Nursing regulation.
Your RN license can be disciplined over simple misunderstandings, small mistakes or trivial issues. When this happens, hiring a nurse attorney is your best option.
Consult with Texas nurse attorney Yong J. An today if you have any questions about your disciplinary process by calling or texting him at (832) 428-5679 day, night or weekends.