A nurse who worked at a care home in Forfar has been struck off after being found mixing medicines that should have been administered separately.
Victoria Henderson, who worked at Lochbank Manor Care Home in Graham Crescent, was found guilty of five charges at a hearing at the Nursing and Midwifery Council in Edinburgh.
It was found that on three occasions on August 27 2011 she gave a resident two doses of drugs at the same time through a tube instead of administering each independently and flushing in between.
The panel found Ms Henderson guilty of falsifying the patient’s MAR (medication administration record) chart on that date and that, on numerous occasions between May 21 and September 6 in 2011, she did not carry the nurse’s phone with her at all times.
Additional charges that she took additional breaks to which she was not entitled on seven occasions in 2011 and failed to update care plans for four patients at the end of her shift between June 1 2011 and July 21 2011 were not proved.
The misconduct came to light when a new nurse started working at the home on August 27 2011 and was asked to shadow Ms Henderson as part of her induction week.
Giving evidence, the nurse said during the morning, lunch and tea time drug rounds she observed Ms Henderson mixing and administering medicines that were meant to be given independently.
She claimed Ms Henderson told her: “It’s easy to pick up bad habits but we all end up having them.
“It just saves time but if you’re ever seen doing this by senior members of staff, don’t mention that I showed you this or that you’d seen me do it.”
According to the resident’s MAR chart, they were meant to be given perindopril at 7.30pm. The nurse claimed Ms Henderson administered this drug at 5.30pm but stated on the MAR chart it was given at the correct time.
The nurse said Ms Henderson explained: “The perindopril gets administered early. It’s the practice at the home because it gets really busy in the evening at handover time.
“Because no other residents are given medications at 7.30pm it’s easy to forget to give it to her. Just sign the MAR sheet as if it was given to her at 7.30pm.”
The nurse reported these incidents to an operations director at RDS Healthcare Ltd, which runs Lochbank Manor, on August 30.
Ms Henderson’s employment at the home, which provides care to 40 elderly residents, was terminated by RDS on September 6 2011.
Defending her actions, Ms Henderson told the panel she had referred to the British National Formulary to check what medicines could be taken together.
She claimed she had performed a flush before and after giving the medicine to the resident and a pharmacist had confirmed the drugs given to the resident could be combined.
Ms Henderson said her quotes had been taken out of context and also claimed the nurse who gave evidence against her had administered the tea time round of drugs.
The panel took the view the nurse who started employment at the home in August 2011 was a credible witness, due to her consistent evidence and preferred her version of events.
The written judgement stated: “The panel considered Ms Henderson’s misconduct and the nature of her dishonesty to be a serious departure from professional standards.
“It noted her misconduct involved the deliberate concealment of poor practice. Further, the panel found Ms Henderson did not accept personal responsibility and attempted to shift the blame on to others.
“The panel has considered Ms Henderson’s misconduct is fundamentally incompatible with her remaining on the Nursing and Midwifery Council Register.
“The panel therefore decided the only appropriate and proportionate sanction in this case is a striking-off order.”