Texas Nurse abandonment laws

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OK Texas nurses I need a consensus here. I have always believed our BNE defines patient abandonment as occuring only after duty is established...for example taking/accepting of report then failing to ensure another nurses' care before leaving, etc.

Worked with 2 new grads last week who SWEAR Texas BNE representatives told them recently in a seminar that now, once they have punched in/are on the clock THAT establishes the duty!

Are these new grads confused or am I? Has the BNE changed its definition that anyone is aware of?? I sure don't recall anyone notifying me of this change..... :uhoh21:

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That's news to me! Just might be worth looking into a bit more.

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couldn't find it in the RN nurse practice act but, LVN states that as long as you report off and tell a supervisor that you are leaving it is not abandonment. If you are on for a shift and you clock in if, you refuse your asignment and notify a super you are covered. No changes that I could find. BNE for state of texas onthe web

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OK Texas nurses I need a consensus here. I have always believed our BNE defines patient abandonment as occuring only after duty is established...for example taking/accepting of report then failing to ensure another nurses' care before leaving, etc.

Worked with 2 new grads last week who SWEAR Texas BNE representatives told them recently in a seminar that now, once they have punched in/are on the clock THAT establishes the duty!

Are these new grads confused or am I? Has the BNE changed its definition that anyone is aware of?? I sure don't recall anyone notifying me of this change..... :uhoh21:

I was told that also (and I'm not from Texas)......once you show up for work to assume duties your responsible and if you leave its abandonment. Doesn't sound right and I wish I could remember where I heard that. I think I read it in one of the nursing magazines.

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I just can't accept that concept...really does lower us to the role of indentured servants vs professionals with liability. I suspect what these new nurse grads told me is just a load of hooey someone tossed at them to scare nurses into complying and taking whatever the facilities want to dish out. Guessing the perpetrators of this lie just hope we won't take the time to read our NPA.

I have read my NPA carefully and it defines duty as MUCH MORE than simply badging in...we DO have some options in the matter, in the decision to accept assignment/report, and in the action we can choose to take should we decide this is an unsafe assignment.

Since I've received no official report of a change in my NPA I will go with what my copy says.

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couldn't find it in the RN nurse practice act but, LVN states that as long as you report off and tell a supervisor that you are leaving it is not abandonment. If you are on for a shift and you clock in if, you refuse your asignment and notify a super you are covered. No changes that I could find. BNE for state of texas onthe web

This is my understanding as well, Dwainlou. The shift before me has established the duty of care...I have not until I accept the patient through report or 'hands on' care.

'Course we may lose our JOB should we refuse an assignment...LOL...but our license will remain intact. Unless there are other issues such as unprofessional behavior, etc the facility may try to go after you with...and most likely if we refuse an assignment and go home, the facility WILL try to retaliate and dig up some dirt on ya. So this is surely not without risk.

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OK Texas nurses I need a consensus here. I have always believed our BNE defines patient abandonment as occuring only after duty is established...for example taking/accepting of report then failing to ensure another nurses' care before leaving, etc.

Worked with 2 new grads last week who SWEAR Texas BNE representatives told them recently in a seminar that now, once they have punched in/are on the clock THAT establishes the duty!

Are these new grads confused or am I? Has the BNE changed its definition that anyone is aware of?? I sure don't recall anyone notifying me of this change..... :uhoh21:

I spoke w/ a nurse that taught ethics for the BNE. She said there is no mention of abandoment of patients anywhere in the regulations. She said it may fall under JCAHO but not the BNE. We do have safe harbor that can be filed and it is internal. I also spoke with the education RN in our facility and she stated that if you report to the supervisor that you can not take the assignment because of??? then you are safe. But like someone else said, then you aren't a "Team Player" and your job may be in jepordy. But at least you are safe and you kept the patients safe.

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I spoke w/ a nurse that taught ethics for the BNE. She said there is no mention of abandoment of patients anywhere in the regulations. She said it may fall under JCAHO but not the BNE. We do have safe harbor that can be filed and it is internal. I also spoke with the education RN in our facility and she stated that if you report to the supervisor that you can not take the assignment because of??? then you are safe. But like someone else said, then you aren't a "Team Player" and your job may be in jepordy. But at least you are safe and you kept the patients safe.

Thanks Crazy Mama...your post makes a lot of sense. I guess what I am going off is legal seminars I've attended over the years and discussions on legal decisions made on nurses' behaviors....vs actual statements in the NPA. Thanks for that clarification. I skimmed through my latest copy and found no definite regulation pertaining to the term either. I was hoping there was no 'new' law I was unaware of.

Hmm...is JCAHO is now trying to make rules on how nurses practice? Hmm. Everybody wants to get into the act...LOL! :coollook:

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