Nurse Struck Off For Slapping Alzheimer's Resident

Main Category: Medical Malpractice / Litigation
Also Included In: Nursing / Midwifery
Article Date: 10 Apr 2008 - 4:00 PDT

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A 64-year old nurse from North Bretton, Peterborough has been struck off the Nursing & Midwifery Council register following the outcome of a hearing by the regulatory body in London on Friday, 4 April 2008.

Josephine Nash was employed as a Mental Health nurse by Wentworth Croft Nursing Home in 2005 when she slapped a resident on the top of the head. Although her actions caused no injury to the resident, the independent panel of the Conduct and Competence Committee deemed her actions to be incompatible with what's expected of a registered nurse.

The panel heard evidence that the resident was an elderly, confused and aggressive patient with Alzheimer's who used force on Nash which was a single blow to her upper body from behind. The resident was immediately restrained and posed no further threat. It was at this point that Nash struck the resident with an open hand, an action the panel were satisfied was not in self defence.

Responding to the panel's decision to strike Ms Nash from the register, NMC spokesperson Leila Harris said: "Josephine Nash's actions fell entirely short of the type of behaviour expected from someone in a caring profession. As a registered nurse, she would have been expected to uphold the standards in her Code of Conduct, particularly that she had a duty of care to her patient who is entitled to receive safe and competent care. While there is no evidence to suggest that this incident had been repeated, she has expressed no form of regret or insight into her actions. The independent panel decided that given the serious nature of her actions, the only way to protect the reputation of the nursing profession was to strike her off."

Notes

1. The Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) is the UK regulator for two professions, nursing and midwifery. The primary purpose of the NMC is protection of the public. It does this through maintaining a register of all nurses, midwives and specialist community public health nurses eligible to practise within the UK and by setting standards for their education, training and conduct. Currently the number of registrants exceeds 674,000. The Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001 (The Order), sets out the NMC's role and responsibilities.

2. The independent panel is selected from a pool of individuals appointed by the Appointments Board. They come from a variety of backgrounds and are not NMC Council members, nor do they sit on any committee of the Council.

Nursing & Midwifery Council