Nurse who put patients at risk suspended for year

Nimmy George was said to have failed to treat patients with kindness, privacy, and dignity

A nurse who was found to have put patients at risk has been suspended for a year.

Nimmy George worked as an adult nurse at a Cumbrian hospital for nine months before she was referred to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

An NMC panel ruled Ms George should be suspended after finding she had handled medication poorly and failed to attend to a dead patient appropriately.

North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Trust (NCIC), which took over from the trust that employed Ms George, said the nurse was dismissed after failing to meet the required standards during probation.

Ms George, who did not attend the hearings into her fitness to practice held last month, started working for the North Cumbria Acute Hospital NHS Trust in December 2021.

The hospital she worked for has not been named in the hearing documents, which said concerns about her conduct and skills were raised in the first month and she was referred to the NMC.

'Unprofessionalism'

Charges proved by the NMC included Ms George placing patients at risk because of her poor handling of medication.

The NMC's report said she had to be "reminded frequently" how to administer medication safely.

"She failed to identify the correct drug, the dose, the frequency of the medication, or whether the drug had expired," it said.

Ms George did not carry out hourly checks on a patient who had suffered a fall and provided incorrect information about another patient when handing them over to different team.

She was also heard saying that she could kill someone in the hospital but still get a job in her home country.

The panel said this showed a "complete disregard for patient safety, lack of accountability, and unprofessionalism".

Ms George was also said to have behaved inappropriately when a patient died, saying in a loud voice words to the effect of "it’s my observation that the patient in bed five is dead" and failing to cover the patient and pull the curtain around their bed, the report said.

No remorse

Concerns were raised about the way she treated patients, such as not reassuring a patient with dementia who was afraid, and not helping a patient who was standing naked on their bed and soaked in urine.

The NMC said her actions were "a serious departure from good professional practice".

They demonstrated "a lack of basic knowledge, skill, and judgement, showing that she was incapable of safe and effective practice".

This amounted to "serious lack of competence", it said

The body added Ms George showed a lack of remorse and "sought to blame colleagues for her failings".

However, as mitigation, they added she was new to the country, which was a "significant personal change" for her.

'Fully supported'

The panel heard she was given "extensive" training and supervision and her workload was kept low so she could focus on improving.

However, NCIC said Ms George had failed to improve.

The NMC said Ms George had not engaged with the process at all, other than to send one email with a counter-complaint following her referral.

The body said it had found no evidence of the behaviour she alleged.

It added it had considered striking her off the nursing register but, having considered the evidence and mitigation, felt it would be disproportionate.