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 Houston nurse license lawyer knows how to avoid these pitfalls.
On or about January 7, 2019, while employed as a Licensed Vocational Nurse in a hospital in Houston, the LVN allegedly failed to timely intervene and report a change of condition to the Physician or Nursing Supervisor, for a patient during a home nursing visit.
The parent of the patient reported to the LVN that the patient had been lethargic and vomiting excessively over the weekend and the parent held the patient’s chemotherapy medication due to the vomiting. patient then documented that the patient’s abdomen appeared concave, she had coarse lung sounds, increased mucus secretions, and an increased temperature, and had abnormal vital signs including respirations of sixty-six (66), a heart rate of fifty-eight (58), a blood sugar of forty-eight (48) milligrams per deciliter.
Approximately an hour later, the patient had a seizure at which time Emergency Medical Services (EMS) were activated and the patient became unresponsive; EMS arrived and at that time the patient had a glucose level of seventeen (17). Resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful and the patient died.
The LVN contacted another nurse outside the facility rather than a nurse at the facility for documentation advice, only. Her conduct may have deprived the patient of a timely intervention.
In response to the incident, the LVN states that the patient’s parent informed her that the patient had excessive vomiting throughout the weekend, and that the parent had held chemotherapy. She states that it was not uncommon for the patient to have frequent vomiting, due to the chemotherapy. She reports that she noticed the patient was also lethargic, which was also not uncommon for the patient since she had started her chemotherapy, and she frequently slept most of the day.
The LVN states that the parent informed her that lorazepam had been given to the patient and that there had been no vomiting the previous night or prior to her arrival.
The LVN states that given the patient’s normal behavior and with the parent stating he had given her lorazepam; she states that she was not alarmed at this time. LVN states that she advised the parent that they should go to the emergency room. She reports that the parent stated that the patient was not having any new symptoms, but if anything changed, he would take her to the emergency room.
The LVN states that she decided to take the patient’s blood sugar, which was not the normal routine. She states that the parent administered apple juice for the patient’s low blood sugar. She reports that this was the last testing strip available, so she was unable to recheck the blood sugar.
The LVN states that she again suggested to the parent that they should take the patient to the hospital. She states that she noticed the patient had a moderate amount of secretions, which was not uncommon. Petitioner states that she suctioned the patient and at time the patient began biting on the suction. Petitioner states that after the removal of the suction, the patient continued to clench her teeth and turned to her left side.
The LVN states that it appeared the patient was having a seizure. She states that she reassessed the patient, and she was no longer breathing, states that at this time she immediately called 911 as she moved the patient from the couch to the floor and began CPR. She states that she continued CPR with 911 on speaker phone listening to her counts.
The LVN reports that upon Emergency Medical Services (EMS) arrival, EMS took over. She states that she then called the on-call service at the hospital to report the incident.
However, the LVN failed to properly present and defend her case against the court. She was disciplined and warned of suspension of her license by violating Texas Board of Nursing regulation.
Your license can be disciplined over simple misunderstandings, small mistakes or trivial issues. When this happens, hiring a Houston nurse license lawyer is your best option.
Consult with Houston nurse license lawyer 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.