A ‘dishonest’ nurse has been struck off after scalding an Oldham dementia patient with hot water and leaving her untreated for EIGHT hours with ‘horrendous’ blisters.
Nancy Amewu Aku Hayibor spilt water on an elderly resident while attempting to release a feeding tube during a night shift in August 2013, at Shaw Side Residential Home in Oldham.
She was called before the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) after it emerged she had failed to carry out adequate first aid or call an ambulance for the ‘badly scalded’ woman.
The NMC panel stated: “Ms Hayibor’s lack of insight, her reckless attitude and persistent dishonesty, her lack of remediation combined with an appalling lack of consideration and compassion for the resident’s dignity and care were, in the panel’s view, incompatible with ongoing registration.”
It went on: “Ms Hayibor demonstrated a reckless and dishonest attitude in carrying out her role and an appalling lack of understanding of the responsibilities and standards of practice required of all registered nurses.”
It was alleged Ms Hayibor, who was a nurse team leader, had attempted to conceal the extent of the incident which left the resident with ‘extensive burns and blisters’ to her lower back.
During handover, Ms Hayibor said she had burnt the resident with hot water and left a small red mark, she then made a note of the incident on a form and wrote: ‘hot water splash on lower back’.
However, the general manager at the home, who conducted the internal investigation, described the injury as ‘horrendous’ and indicated that this was a ‘high impact incident’ that should have required an ambulance straight away.
Despite this, an ambulance was only called when the day nurse arrived on shift the following morning and found the resident suffering from a burn on her lower back which was ‘covered in blisters’ and ‘damaged skin’.
The ambulance did not reach the home until 11 hours after the incident and the patient was then forced to spend two weeks in the special burns unit of Oldham Royal Hospital.
The ‘scalded’ patient had been admitted to the home in October 2012 and required 24-hour nursing care. She also suffered from dementia, was immobile and required feeding via a Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube.
Ms Hayibor was struck over five separate incidents including failure to carry out ‘adequate’ first aid to wounds and dishonesty in attempting to conceal the true extent of the injury.
On October 9 2013, the nurse received a police caution for assault occasioning actual bodily harm but did not reveal her conviction to the trust she was primarily working for.
The nurse continued to complete shifts at the trust, failing to reveal her caution, which the hearing deemed ‘dishonest’.
The NMC panel heard how the nurse called the patient’s daughter at 07.45 the following morning and explained there had been ‘a small amount of hot water’ spilt on her mother during the night shift.
The patient’s daughter asked if her mother had needed any treatment as a result of the spillage but was reassured by the nurse that her mother ‘was fine’.
The NMC panel concluded: “Ms Hayibor’s self-centred lack of concern for a badly scalded resident, her failure to take appropriate action, her dishonesty and her failure to inform her employer of the police caution all indicate a serious risk that, in a similar situation, Ms Hayibor is likely to behave in the same way in the future.”
Bupa suspended Ms Hayibor and an internal investigation was initiated with a disciplinary hearing held on March 11 2014.
The panel noted the documentary evidence in the form of the handwritten notes of the disciplinary meeting held at Southwold on October 25 2013, which Ms Hayibor attended accompanied by a representative.
During that meeting Ms Hayibor’s representative, on her behalf, indicated she was ‘very sorry’ and ‘very apologetic’ and said she was a ‘very good nurse’.
She was later dismissed and Bupa referred the matters to the Nursing and Midwifery Council where Ms Hayibor was served with a striking off order and an interim suspension of 18 months.
A spokesperson for the home said: “We thoroughly investigated this nurse’s behaviour, dismissed her, and reported her to the NMC.
“Our residents’ welfare is always our number one priority and the last routine inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) confirmed the home is meeting all required standards of care.”
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