Nurse who made medication blunder told colleague 'I don't care anymore'
An overworked nurse who failed to give medication to a patient told a colleague “I don’t care anymore”, a hearing was told.
Niall O’loingsigh was lead nurse in the Avon unit within the Charterhouse Care Home in Keynsham, Somerset, which looks after elderly residents and those with dementia. In 2020 a complaint was made by a colleague about him breaching safe medication management protocols and being dishonest in relation to medication administration. A misconduct hearing at the Nursing and Midwifery Council was told later, in May 2021, he was seen behaving in an “unsupportive manner” and told a colleague: “I don’t care anymore”.
The panel also heard how on May 18, 2021, Mr O’loingsigh failed to record he had administered medication to three residents, BristolLive reported. A colleague wanted to report Mr O’loingsigh’s conduct, in which Mr O’loingsigh patted her on the back and said “well done mate, you did the right thing but I may lose my PIN though”.
Mr O’loingsigh told his colleague of feelings of distress and anxiety about being reported and its impact on his career, but he wanted to reassure her. The colleague however felt “uncomfortable”. The panel found that he underwent “a course of conduct which put patients at risk of suffering harm at the time of the incidents” and noted “there were repeated failures over a period of time”.
Mitigating, Jennifer McPhee, noted that Mr O’loingsigh apologised for his actions and had engaged in further training and personal counselling to ensure this wrongdoing never happens again. She remarked he was struggling with low resources, cost-cutting measures and the “loss of reliable members of staff”.
'Foolish' prison nurse texted man jailed for sexually assaulting screaming woman
It was also observed that Mr O’loingsigh was facing the challenging circumstances of the pandemic and he had struggled on two shifts in question on May 13 and May 18. Ms McPhee denied he had a “casual disregard” for his colleagues and immediately followed up his actions with an apology and also provided the colleague with clinical reasoning.
The panel report observed: “Ms McPhee submitted that you have apologised and had admitted to the wrongdoing since it was immediately brought to your attention and were open and honest throughout the local investigation. She submitted that you have learned from your errors, excavated it and looked at what went wrong and why and have put internal provisions in place to ensure that would never happen again.“
Mr O’loingsigh was imposed conditions of practice order for 12 months, where he must update his training in management and administration of medications in any new roles, provide a self-reflective piece about prioritising patient care to the NMC, keep in touch with his case officer and inform any future employers of this order. Interim conditions of practice order was also imposed for 18 months.
In reaching its decision, the report reads: "The panel noted you have been working well within your current role and have been subject to an interim conditions of practice order for a significant period of time and that you have, without fail, fully complied with the interim order. Further, the panel took into account the testimonials which attest to your good character, the evidence of training undertaken by you to address the concerns, the reflective accounts provided by you including your essay on the importance of honesty and integrity in nursing."
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
