Texas Nursing Practice Act Case Study

Nurses in Texas based their practice on the Texas Nursing Practice Act (NPA) by following their rules and regulations about the nurse scope of practice, which is determined by the nurse’s education, training and competency. The nurse scope of practice provides the legal boundaries for nursing practices in order to protect the safety of the people from Texas (Westrick, 2013, p. 24). Nurses are required to have a nursing degree from a Texas nursing programs approved by the Texas Board of Nursing (BON), and a current nursing license in Texas (BON, 2013b).
Nurses in Texas works under their scope of practice when their acts are consistent with the Texas NPA and performing assignments for which their received training and evaluation, providing safety
In the case Lunsford v. Board of Nurse Examiners, the nurse had an unprofessional conduct by violating a duty to her patient leaving the patient unattended and at risk of complications (BON, 2013a). Lunsford, as a professional nurse had the responsibility to assess the patient’s medical status and treat the patient within her scope of practice taking the appropriate measurements to prevent the worse, regardless of the doctor’s orders of sending the patient to another facility. “The Board of Nurse Examiners in Texas suspended the nurse’s license to practice after the Board found that the nurse’s conduct was unprofessional and dishonorable conduct likely to injure the public” (Wolf, 1986, p. 222). Nurse Lunsford fail to take the patient’s vital signs, and did not implement the nursing interventions required to stabilize the patient’s condition or to prevent complications. Her conduct is considered an “unprofessional conduct,” which is any act, practice, or administration that does not conform the accepted standards of nursing practice. Also, this case is a clear example of the nurse responsibility and accountability to act independently regardless of the physician’s order when this order is not safe for the patient. If the nurse has any objections about an order, the nurse has the obligation to question the physician. By no doing so, the nurse violates the nurse-patient relationship and put at risk the patient’s safety. In a situation, in which a physician’s order put the patient at risk, the nurse has the obligation to exert her professional judgement and withdraw from rendering services ordered by the physician (Wolf, 1986, p.