Pause on this Blog

I have been told that I have too many blogs and that they are affecting page rankings, so I am going to incorporate this blog into Information for Nurses and A Nurse Attorney's Thoughts. Hopefully, I will be able to restart this blog after the search engines realize that this is not spam.

Administrative Laws for Nurses

The Legislature passes laws, called statutes, which govern nursing practice. An example of such an enacted law is the Nurse Practice Act (“NPA”). The NPA is very general because it is intended to apply to all registered or vocational nurses regardless of their practice specialty. The Board of Nurses enact rules and regulations that further interpret the NPA (The Legislature gives the Board the power to enact rules and regulations). For example, the NPA may state that the Board has the power to investigate complaints against nurses, but how the Board goes about doing an investigation is detailed in the Board's rules and regulations.

With each legislative session, there is an opportunity for the NPA to undergo changes and the Board can enact new rules and regulations throughout the year. So, nurses must pay attention to what legislators are trying to pass as laws in order to protect their nursing practice and nurses need to watch for proposed rule postings by the Board. Nursing Associations are an easy way to monitor these potential changes to nursing practice.

Nurses should have a current copy of the nursing practice act, rules and regulations or know how to access them on the Internet. Ignorance is No Defense.

Can the Board Arrest Me?

NO. In Texas, the BON does not have arrest powers. This does open up an area of uncertainty - the various types of law can be very confusing, sometimes even for attorneys! Attorneys get calls from nurses looking for a lawyer to assist them before the Board of Nurses and the attorney does not have a clue on who to refer the nurse to because they are not sure what area of law covers the Board of Nursing. Many nurses are also perplexed as to the Board's powers; they are fearful that an action by the Board will result in them being arrested or serving jail time or they are concerned that they will have to pay some type of settlement.

Regulatory Boards function under a type of law known as Administrative Law. As stated in a earlier blog, the Board of Nurses are under the Executive Branch of state government. Administrative law involves the laws, rules, and regulations governing the administration of government agencies and the regulation of the individuals licensed or registered under those agencies.

Who Cares About Documentation

Who Cares About Documentation? Nurses had better care and take action. Documentation is required as part of the nursing process. Documentation is not just some tedious task that can wait till the end of the day. A lack of documentation or inadequate documentation lends creditability to the premise that the nursing care was not provided. Inadequate documentation is a violation of the Board's rules and regulations and it can seriously harm a nurse in lawsuits as well. I hear over and over from clients that they wished they had documented "such and such" and "If only I had documented, I would not be before the Board." Nurses must change their way of thinking and organize their workdays so that they can timely and adequately document.