Tennessee Department of Health Publications. The number of license violations per category for November 2018 are listed below: Nursing professionals in Tennessee who are threatened with the loss of their licenses can take action to protect their licenses. In addition to suspending or revoking a nursing license, state boards of nursing may issue fines or warnings and possibly require a nurse . Once enrolled, a nurse will get automatic notifications about license status, license expiration, license renewal or publicly available disciplinary actions or alerts. Nor did anyone consider if the nurse recognized the risk associated with talking to the orientee while pulling medications from the ADC at the time of the error. 5200 Butler Pike For example, one Board member suggested that a reasonable nurse would have transported the patient out of the radiology unit to a patient care unit that used barcode technology so she could scan the barcode on the medication prior to administration. Board members, with few exceptions, are appointed by the Governor. As one Board member noted, I feel like, as humans, every one of us make mistakes, none of us are perfect. Each provider licensing board shall set by rule adopted pursuant to the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5, a threshold amount below which judgments or settlements shall not be reportable; provided, such threshold shall, for chapter 6 or 9 of this title licensees, be set at seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000), for doctors of chiropractic, regulated pursuant to chapter 4 of this title, be set at fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), for dentists, regulated pursuant to chapter 5 of this title, be set at twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), and for all other licensees under this title be set at ten thousand dollars ($10,000). Tennessee Department of Health issues a monthly media release listing all disciplinary actions taken by the health related boards during the prior month. Also, it cannot be asserted that the failure to document in the EHR contributed to the patients harm or denied her any opportunity for recovery. According to the prosecutor, the Board has a policy that differentiates between human error, at-risk behavior, reckless behavior, and bad intent. Information concerning all settlements shall be accompanied by the following statement: Settlement of a claim may occur for a variety of reasons which do not necessarily reflect negatively on the professional competence or conduct of the provider. Speak with an attorney as soon as possible. The professions that are required to submit information are: alcohol and drug abuse counselors, audiologists, certified nurse practitioners, chiropractors, clinical pastoral therapists, dentists, dietitian or nutritionists, dispensing opticians, electrologists, marital and family therapists, massage therapists, medical doctors, medical laboratory personnel, nursing home administrators, occupational therapists, optometrists, osteopathic physicians, pharmacists, physical therapists, physician assistants, podiatrists, professional counselors,psychologists, registered nurse anesthetists, respiratory care practitioners, social workers, speech pathologists and veterinarians. (1) As a result, the nurse's practice will be affected in some way and the nurse must fulfill the requirements of the discipline . RaDonda's criminal trial is scheduled to begin on . Resignation of a nurse before conclusion of any disciplinary proceeding or in lieu of discipline. Lists of nurses disciplined since 2004 (NOTE: Nurses are included with other professionals regulated by the state.) Furthermore, we recognize how difficult it is to be conferred with the responsibility of protecting the public. ~\W3o3Vq~;?+|_y[OFCP"!$"1 fNr]E Xxo?_OxW/$w;~p.)}(z!% mR:muv P" NT/T*?UlaP=:> 3paRh ZC! Nurse did not verify that the proper medication was removed from the ADC. Select Begin Here For Sign-up under New User to create your account. Read our recipe for investigating nursing boards' oversight . But mistakes were made. Nurse was distracted while talking to an assigned orientee while retrieving the medication from the ADC. Hospital settles with patients family, requiring them to not speak about the error publicly. If reading the front of the medication label was the best way to confirm the drug in hand, then RaDonda failed in that regard. An outcome bias often results in over-reacting to a singular event with unwarranted disciplinary action, or under-reacting to a system design flaw if the outcome is not harmful. While searching for information on a particular health care professional, consumers should be aware that there are several locations available to aid them with their research. The graphic below demonstrates the disciplinary process from receipt of complaint to resolution and reporting. Nurse did not verify that the proper medication was administered to the patient. Date of Meeting: May 1, 2023 . The Office of Consumer Right to Know is charged with seeking and collecting this information and providing it to consumers via the Departments web site. The mission of each board is to safeguard the health, safety and welfare of . SD Nursing Board - Disciplinary Actions - SD Dept. of Health PDF Rules of The Tennessee Board of Nursing Chapter 1000-04 Advanced To cite another example, the prosecutor stated that a reasonable nurse would have seen that the ADC defaulted to searching by the generic drug name, not the brand name (which was difficult to notice at the time), rather than recognizing that the capability of the ADC to simultaneously search by brand and generic names would have been so much more effective. RaDonda could not have consciously disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable riska requirement for reckless behaviorbecause she had no idea that she had made a mistake. In response to the whistleblower, CMS conducts a surprise hospital inspection. .`jh L@ b A nurse can be disciplined for "unprofessional conduct, and negligence, 2 0 obj Professional boards must publish disciplinary license action each year by month per Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 68-1-114. Health Professionals Boards Disciplinary Actions - Tennessee The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) is a not-for-profit organization whose purpose is to provide an organization through which boards of nursing act and counsel together on matters of common interest and concern affecting the public health, safety and welfare, including the development of licensing examinations in nursing. The boards are also responsible for the investigation of alleged violations of the Practice Act and rules and are responsible for the discipline of licensees who are found guilty of such violations. Links to various Internet sites are available from the Department of Health Websitehome pageand from the Health Professional Boards Website. I know the reason that this patient is no longer here is because of me. Unfortunately, the Board members seemed to interpret this only as a clear admission of guilt and did not appear to acknowledge the psychological pain RaDonda is still experiencing as a second victim of a fatal error. Below is a list of actions taken in NOVEMBER 2021. There can be latitude in interpretation of intention and evidential proof of alleged misbehavior tovigorously defend nursing professionalsagainst the board's rulings. Information concerning the existence of a court-sealed settlement shall be reported in cases involving such a settlement. Patient involved in medication error is withdrawn from life support and dies. Accountability for not following the five rights. (2) In order to be issued a certificate of fitness as a nurse practitioner with . The board of nursing (BON), through its statutory authority specified in the nurse practice act, is responsible for reviewing and acting on complaints in order to fulfill their mission to protect the public. e-Notify for Nurses helps nurses easily manage their licenses at no cost to them. Questions posed to witnesses were also misleading as they were directed at current conditions and not correlated to the conditions that existed in 2017. Hospital fires nurse for not following the five rights of medication administration. Projectionsbased on a single month, while not statistically accurate, suggest a large number of annual nursing license disciplinary actions may result from controlled substance issues. Professional nursing license action report. For example, in the case of suspected theft or misappropriation, were there other professionals or employees present who had access to the alleged misappropriated items? or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. To make changes to or update the Practitioner Profile, please do so via the web at:https://lars.tn.gov/datamart/mainMenu.do. Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual Although terminology may differ, board disciplinary action affects the nurse's licensure status and ability to practice nursing in the jurisdiction. Nursys is the only national nurse licensure and disciplinary database. Also, healthcare practitioners, including nurses, will not want to speak up when they make an error, which will cripple learning, prevent the recognition of the need for system redesign, and set the healthcare culture back to when hiding mistakes and punitive responses to errors were the norm. Comprehensive information on protecting one's . The Division of Health Related Boards provides administrative support to the boards, committees, councils and one registry that are charged with the licensure and regulation of their respective health care professionals, as well as the Office of Consumer Right to Know. This page has information and updates on nursing boards and regulation specific to Georgia. Detailed information about disciplinary actions is available on . Complaints. The professions required to submit and maintain a practitioner profile questionnaire are: Tennessee Code Annotated Title 63 Chapter 51 requires the following information to be reported to the Board for dissemination to the public on practitioner profiles: http://apps.health.tn.gov/Licensure/Default.aspx, Tennessee Department of Health Publications, Licensed Registered Respiratory Therapists, Licensed Certified Respiratory Therapists. For example, the Board considered neuromuscular blocking agent warnings on the ADC screen and shrink wrap sleeves over the vials to be red flags overlooked by RaDonda, when both had been added to improve the warning system after the event occurred. Disputed failure. Together the NPA and rules/regulations guide and govern nursing practice. Disciplinary Action. In cases of this type, a nursing professional's legal counsel may get a dismissal or reduction of charges by exposing weaknesses in the board's case.