Nurse Struck Off For Slapping Patient, UK

Main Category: Litigation / Medical Malpractice
Also Included In: Nursing / Midwifery
Article Date: 03 Jun 2008 - 4:00 PDT

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A 52 year old nurse from Aspley, Nottingham has been struck off the register after a hearing found that her fitness to practise was impaired.

The independent Conduct and Competence Committee panel for the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) heard that Ethlyn David was working at Acacia Care Centre in Nottingham in August 2003 when she physically and verbally abused Resident B by kicking and slapping him while calling him a 'wicked man', resulting in misconduct.

The panel further heard that Mrs David went against the code of conduct when she cleaned a resident's sacral pressure sore with a paper towel. She failed in her duty of care to these residents who were entitled to receive safe and competent care and therefore is guilty of misconduct.

When hearing the facts, the panel also considered that David asked a nursing colleague twice if there was spare Metformin for her daughter and decided that in asking Ms Marshall for a prescription drug in circumstances where there was no prescription, Mrs David failed in her duty of respect towards her professional colleague and effectively invited Ms Marshall to breach her own code of professional conduct.

Commenting on the panel's decision, NMC spokesperson Sarah Connolly said:

"Mrs David committed serious physical and verbal abuse against elderly and vulnerable residents in ways that clearly breached her duty under the professional code of conduct to protect, promote and support the health, dignity and well-being of individual residents and clients. We are satisfied that her conduct amounted to a serious departure from the relevant standards as set out in the NMC's Code of Professional Conduct and is fundamentally incompatible with being a registrant. We are of the firm view that public confidence in the Council would be seriously undermined if she is not removed from the register."

The Nursing and 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 practice 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.

Nursing and Midwifery Council

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