TX NJE Mandatory Reporting Requirements 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under Texas law, a nurse who suspects a colleague is impaired by drugs or alcohol while on duty is required to report this to:
- The Texas Board of Nursing (BON) only
- The employing facility and, if unaddressed, to the BON (Correct answer)
- The Texas Department of Health only
- No one, unless a patient is harmed
Correct answer: The employing facility and, if unaddressed, to the BON
Texas law requires nurses to report impaired colleagues to the employing facility first; if the facility fails to act, the nurse must report to the BON.
Question 2: A Texas nurse is convicted of a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude. Within how many days must the nurse self-report this conviction to the Texas BON?
- 10 days
- 30 days (Correct answer)
- 60 days
- 90 days
Correct answer: 30 days
Texas Occupations Code requires nurses to self-report criminal convictions to the BON within 30 days of the conviction.
Question 3: In Texas, suspected abuse or neglect of an elderly or disabled adult living in the community should be reported to:
- Texas Board of Nursing
- Local law enforcement only
- Texas Adult Protective Services (APS) (Correct answer)
- The attending physician
Correct answer: Texas Adult Protective Services (APS)
Texas Adult Protective Services (APS) is the designated agency for receiving reports of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of elderly or disabled adults in community settings.
Question 4: A nurse who reports a colleague's unsafe practice to the Texas BON in good faith is protected from civil liability under which principle?
- Respondeat superior
- Qualified immunity for good faith reporting (Correct answer)
- The exclusionary rule
- Charitable immunity doctrine
Correct answer: Qualified immunity for good faith reporting
Texas law provides qualified immunity from civil liability for nurses who report in good faith, protecting them from lawsuits by the reported nurse.
Question 5: Which of the following events MUST a Texas nurse report to the BON as a mandatory self-reporting obligation?
- Receiving a verbal warning from a supervisor
- Being named as a witness in a civil lawsuit
- Having a nursing license suspended in another state (Correct answer)
- Failing to complete optional hospital training on time
Correct answer: Having a nursing license suspended in another state
Texas requires nurses to self-report any disciplinary action taken against their license by another state's board, including suspensions.
Question 6: A Texas nurse discovers that a coworker has been falsifying patient medication records. The nurse's legal obligation is to:
- Confront the coworker privately and give them a chance to correct the records
- Report the falsification to the employing facility and potentially to the BON (Correct answer)
- Document personal observations but take no formal action
- Notify the patient's family immediately before reporting to anyone else
Correct answer: Report the falsification to the employing facility and potentially to the BON
Falsifying medical records is unsafe practice that must be reported internally to the facility, and to the BON if the facility does not address it.
Question 7: Under Texas mandatory reporting laws, which statement best describes the nurse's duty to report known patient abuse in a healthcare facility?
- Reporting is optional if the nurse believes the patient is not seriously harmed
- Reporting is required only for nurses in supervisory positions
- All nurses are mandatory reporters and must report known or suspected patient abuse (Correct answer)
- Reporting is the physician's responsibility, not the nurse's
Correct answer: All nurses are mandatory reporters and must report known or suspected patient abuse
Under Texas Health and Safety Code, all nurses are mandatory reporters and are legally obligated to report known or suspected patient abuse regardless of their role.
TX NJE Mandatory Reporting Requirements 1
Under Texas law, a nurse who suspects a colleague is impaired by drugs or alcohol while on duty is required to report this to: