North Shields nurse who swore at residents struck off

Carol Briggs verbally abused residents at Willow Court Care Home in North Shields

A dementia care home nurse who repeatedly swore at and threatened residents has been struck off.

Carol Briggs called one elderly man at Willow Court in North Shields "a dog" and told colleagues she could "handle" residents as she had worked in prisons.

Ms Briggs, who qualified as a nurse in 1987, admitted several offences and resigned in February 2018.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council said "underlying attitudinal issues" placed residents at a risk of suffering harm.

The council said there were several incidents between December 2017 and January 2018 which "fell seriously short of the standards of behaviour expected" of a nurse.

These included:

• Telling one resident with Alzheimer's to get up and walk as she was "not breaking" her back for him

• Locked all residents in their rooms, then took a few minutes to find the key for one after a sensor indicated someone had fallen

• While being held by the wrist by a resident, said she would "drop kick" him in the testicles so he would "fall to the floor"

• Told one resident he "stank" and to "shut up"

• Threw a blanket at a resident and said she did "not get paid enough" to deal with their issues

• Called a resident who was urinating in his bed a "dog" and "dirty"

The council said while none of the patients were harmed physically, they "would have suffered with a significant degree of distress".

It also said Ms Briggs' actions would damage the trust members of the public have with care home nurses.

"Her lack of duty of care and the behaviour displayed towards vulnerable residents in a degrading and deplorable way is fundamentally incompatible with being a registered professional nurse," the council concluded.