A NURSE at Musgrove Park Hospital who was found to have given the wrong dose of medication to patients among other charges, has been found guilty of misconduct.

A hearing at the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) in London, found Esther van Schalkwyk, to have had eight counts of misconduct and lack of competence while working at the hospital from November 2014 until February 26, 2015.

She was accused of more than 20 charges, the most serious being that she had not administered insulin to a patient during the hearing which finished on February 7.

Miss van Schalkwyk, who is currently working as a scrub nurse at Musgrove, was sanctioned to a condition of practice order for six months and interim conditions of practice order for 18 months.

The panel decided that it would not be "reasonable" to suspend her as she was "working well in her current role".

At the hearing, van Schalkwyk admitted six of the charges, including failing to administer insulin to a patient, and incorrectly recording that a patient had a pressure sore when in fact they had psoriasis.

Two other charges were also proved through evidence given at the hearing.

The remaining 13 charges, including accusations of van Schalkwyk not recording information were either found not proved, or were dismissed and that Miss van Schalkwyk had no case to answer.

The charges proved included:

  • Not giving the correct amount of tablets to a patient and,
  • Not telling a patient the reason they wouldn't be receiving their eye drops.

The charges she admitted included:

  • Taking around one hour to administer medication to four patients 
  • Failing to administer insulin to a patient, and
  • Asking a colleague to get Calogen from the fridge for a patient, when that patient was prescribed Calogen Extra.

The charges not proved included:

  • Checking whether insulin had been administered to a patient by the night staff
  • Not checking patients' observation charts, and
  • Failing to administer Ramipril to a patient.

A spokesperson added: “It would not generally be in the public interest to suspend a nurse who is working well in her current role.

"In determining the appropriate conditions the panel was mindful of the very positive references regarding your practice in your current role, in which your administration of medication is limited.

"Having regard to the matters it has identified, the panel has concluded that a conditions of practice order will protect the public and allow you the opportunity to remediate your practice. It will also mark the importance of maintaining public confidence in the profession, and will send to the public and the profession a clear message about the standard of practice required of a registered nurse."

Miss van Schalkwyk’s conditions include her not administering medication unless directly supervised by a band 6 nurse or above in any role other than her current role, until she has successfully undertaken a drug round competency based assessment.

Musgrove Park Hospital declined to comment, saying it does not comment on individual cases.

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