Edinburgh Nurse Suspended From Practice By Regulator, UK

Main Category: Nursing / Midwifery
Also Included In: Medical Malpractice / Litigation
Article Date: 19 Sep 2008 - 1:00 PDT

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A nurse who falsified the signature of her mentor while training to be a midwife has been suspended from the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register for 6 months.

Emma Rachel Sheldon, a 27 year old Registered Adult Nurse admitted to forging her mentor's comments and signature for several weeks whilst enrolled as a student midwife at Napier University.

The independent panel of the NMC's Conduct and Competence Committee found her fitness to practise to be impaired in that her actions her dishonest and contrary to her Code of Conduct. The Code says that nurses and midwives must be trustworthy and behave in a way that upholds the reputation of their profession.

Commenting on the panel's decision, NMC spokesperson Leila Harris-Ryberg said: "Although Ms Sheldon's actions did not cause either direct or indirect harm to patients, falsifying a statement of competency has potential implications for patient's and colleagues. Trustworthiness and honesty lie at the heart of the maintenance of public confidence in the professions and the NMC. The public have a right to expect that nurses and midwives will be honest and trustworthy and that the NMC will take appropriate action against those who are not."

The Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) is the UK regulator for two professions, nursing and midwifery. To be eligible to work as a nurse or midwife in the UK, they must be registered with the NMC. There are currently more than 674,000 nurses and midwives on the register. The primary purpose of the NMC is to safeguard the health and wellbeing of the public. It does this through maintaining a register of all nurses and midwives to practise within the UK and by setting standards for their education, training and conduct.

Nursing & Midwifery Council