Nurse Given Three-Year Caution For Poor Record-Keeping, UK

Main Category: Nursing / Midwifery
Also Included In: Litigation / Medical Malpractice
Article Date: 02 Aug 2008 - 10:00 PDT

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A 42-year-old nurse from Eardisland, Gloucestershire, has received a caution for three years by the Nursing and Midwifery Council at a hearing held in London on Wednesday, 30 July 2008.

Karyn Probert, while employed at the Station Drive Surgery, Ludlow, in 2005 failed to maintain appropriate records which lead to a patient being given the contraceptive drug Depo-Provera while the woman was pregnant.

When Ms Probert was informed some time later that the patient was pregnant, she falsified the previous entry by adding the words "last menstrual period - first day 11.5.2005" and two weeks later made a further entry - "remembered conversation with patient".

On considering the sanction of a Caution Order, the independent panel of the Conduct and Competence Committee took into account that her actions did not result in direct or indirect harm to the patient and that the subsequent outcome for the patient was not as a result of her actions. However, the panel deemed the inaccuracy of recording and the incidents of falsifying records were not of the standard required of a registered nurse and in totality amounted to misconduct.

Commenting on the panel's decision to issue Ms Probert with a three-year caution, NMC spokesperson Lesley Conway said:

"Nurses are required to adhere to their Code of conduct which says that they should act in a way to uphold the reputation of the profession. The panel considered her behaviour to be unprofessional and dishonest and outside of the NMC's guidelines on record keeping which say that "records should be written in such a manner that any alterations or submissions are dated, timed and signed in such a way that the original entry can still be read clearly".

In coming to their decision the panel considered the fact that Ms Probert had a good nursing record, there had been no repeat of the same type of incident and the strength of testimonials to the registrant's dedication to nursing and contribution to academic teaching and nurse training.

Accurate record keeping is a fundamental part of a nurse's practice and last year nearly 10% of the cases that went to a full hearing were to do with poor record keeping.

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

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