Nurse accused of unprofessional conduct

The state Nursing Commission charged a Whidbey Island licensed practical nurse with unprofessional conduct for refusing to measure an unresponsive patient’s respiration rate, according to the state Department of Health.

The statement of charges state that Meri Basoco was an LPN at an Oak Harbor nursing home two years ago when she was alerted that a patient was unresponsive in his bed. After responding to the patient’s room, Basoco called 911 from the nurses’ station.

The emergency dispatcher asked Basoco to go to the patient’s room to measure his respiration rate, but she refused. She told the dispatcher she wasn’t permitted to use her cell phone in the facility, according to the document.

An ambulance team responded and transported the patient to the hospital.

The statement of charges alleges that Basoco’s conduct was unprofessional and that she violated standards of nursing conduct or practice. A state law says that a nurse may be subject to disciplinary action by “failing to assess and evaluate a client’s status or failing to institute nursing intervention as required by the client’s condition.”

The notice on the charge explains that the respondent has the opportunity to defend against the charges. The Department of Health website lists her credential status as active; her credentials as a licensed practical nurse were first issued in 2003.