Do patients really know about themselves?

I was sitting in a patient waiting room today and overheard one patient ask the person with them, "What is that medicine I am allergic to?" The two then proceeded to try to remember which medication it was and listening to them was frightening. The lack of knowledge about something so important serves as a reminder to caregivers:

Be sure to stress the importance to patients that they keep a list of allergies in their wallet and that it applies to any allergy, not just medication.

Question patients carefully regarding allergies and the reactions experienced to the allergic incidents. And document everything.

Peer Review Rules - Pay Attention

The Board of Nursing has proposed new rules concerning Peer Review in Texas. Be sure to read these today and if you disagree or agree with any of the proposed rules, send a comment immediately to the Board and contact your nursing organization and let them know your thoughts. These rules have the potential to affect your license, so do not sit by and be uninformed.

Stay Informed

Be sure to read my post about what is happening at the Medical Board because it might affect the Texas Nursing Board.

The Questions the BON Asks

The Texas Board of Nursing has changed their questions on licensure renewals and applications for licensure. For renewals, they stopped asking if a nurse has "ever" been convicted...and now ask if a criminal action has taken place within the past 24 months or since the last renewal. For both renewals and applications, the Board has phrased the question in bullet point format. They included military actions and a broad question about being "cited or charged with any violation of the law."

The Board finally quit asking nurses to disclose expunged and sealed offenses, but they are putting the burden on nurses to ensure that the criminal activity has truly been expunged. This is a big problem in that people are frequently told their criminal history has been expunged when in fact, it has not. So, be sure that you have proof of the expungement in the form of a copy of the Court Order expunging and/or sealing the offense(s). The Board recommends that a nurse provide a copy of this Court Order along with your renewal or application. However, they do not require it. So, before providing expunged or sealed information to the Board, it would be prudent to discuss the matter with an attorney to determine whether just having a copy of the Court Order is enough and that you do not need to provide that copy to the Board.

The Board has also added a question about whether the nurse is "currently the target or subject of a grand jury or governmental agency investigation." Remember to read the questions very carefully and seek legal advice when there are any questions. The Board considers non-disclosure, even when done in error, to be potential deception and subject to action.