When you are a nurse in Texas, the first thing that you need to take into consideration is compliance with all its rules and laws. There is a necessity to follow not only the state laws or regulation but also the administrative rules promulgated by the Texas Board of Nursing (BON). Once an RN/LVN is proven to be guilty of the offense charged, the Texas BON may order the suspension or revocation of the license. The revocation may be permanent or temporary, depending on the veracity of the offense committed. Therefore, it is essential that the RN/LVN seek help from an experienced nurse attorney for defense.
At the time of the initial incident, she was employed as an RN at a children’s hospital in Pearland, Texas, and had been in that position for six (6) years and four (4) months.
On or about March 28, 2020, while employed as an RN at a children’s hospital in Pearland, Texas, RN failed to perform frequent monitoring of the peripheral intravenous (IV) catheter site for a patient, a minor who was cognitively impaired, and failed to fully assess the IV catheter site after 15:00. In addition, RN falsely documented that she assessed the patient’s IV catheter site at 18:19. Subsequently, at 19:44, the oncoming nurse was notified that there was something wrong with the aforementioned patient’s arm and entered the room to discover the IV had infiltrated causing significant edema to the entire arm, discolored fingers, and blistering of the skin. Subsequently, the patient experienced delay in medical care as scheduled surgery for the patient was delayed due to the IV infiltration, and the patient required consultation and interventions from specialists in plastic surgery. RN’s conduct resulted in an inaccurate and deceptive medical record and was likely to injure the patient in that subsequent care givers did not have accurate information on which to base their decisions for further medical care. In addition, RN’s conduct was likely to injure the patient from the undetected progression of clinical complications and resulted in a delay in the patient’s medical care.
In response, RN states that she checked the IV catheter site around 15:00, but she did not pull down the protective sleeve to assess the patient’s fingers. RN states that she went to the patient’s room around 17:00, but the patient’s mother did not want the patient to be disturbed, as the patient was sleeping. RN states that she should have charted at the appropriate time, rather than catching up on charting at the end of the day.
The above actions constitute 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)(B),(1)(C),(1)(D),(1)(M)&(3)(A) and 22 TEX. ADMIN. CODE §217.12(1)(A),(1)(B)&(4).
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 300 nurses before the Texas BON. To contact him, please dial (832)-428-5679 for a confidential consultation or for more inquiries.