Is Texas BON tougher?

[Ms.RN]

here is a stupid question of the day. one of my co-worker who moved from houston told me that the texas bon is tougher on disciplinaring licensed nurses and that many nurses are being disciplined. is it true? i read few discplinary action cases and they seemed to be being discplined for things like not documenting and not notifying the physician. here in michigan, nurses will not be discipline for things like that. one of my co-worker forgot to take old fentanyl patch off from patient and put new one on and this patient ended up being overdosed and even things like this, no discplinary action from bon. what is the reason the malpractice fee is so high in texas?

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Boards of Nursing are responsible for enforcing each state's nurse practice act. It just so happens that our (Texas) nurse practice act happens to be more detailed than most. We have case law that has established clear cut professional standards of conduct - Nurse Patient relationship - that is unique. It is based on a landmark case, Lunsford v. Board of Nurse Examiners, 648 S.W. 2d 391 (Tex. App. -- Austin 1983). The concept of the nurse's duty to promote client safety also serves as the basis for behavior that could be considered unprofessional conduct by a nurse. This is unique to Texas.

Whenever there are changes in technology or practice expectations, the Texas Board issues a very detailed position statement to guide professional practice.

Soooo - maybe our board is 'tougher', but I like to believe that we do a better job of protecting the public as a result.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

It is usually up to one's nurse manager to report nurses to the state BON for issues such as not documenting and failing to report changes in a patient's condition.

I have personally known many nurses who don't chart or document. I know many nurses who don't call the physician when they are supposed to. None of them have been disciplined by the BON because the BON has not been made aware of their actions.

If someone doesn't get reported or have his/her nursing license number referred to the BON, there normally will not be any disciplinary action taken.