Nurse told vulnerable patient to wait for pain relief

A Gloucestershire nurse has been struck off after she abruptly told a patient “you will have to wait for the next shift for your pain relief”. Jeannette Makuete Gibson worked as a nurse in the Gloucestershire area since December 2007 and worked in adult care.

A hearing at the Nursing and Midwifery Council this month heard how there were five occasions across 2019 where she snapped at patients, failed to document prescribed fluids to patients or refused to offer any care. On February 27, 2019, Ms Gibson while caring for a patient did not document how much of the unknown prescribed fluids were remaining before dispensing of the unknown prescribed fluids and did not document when the unknown prescribed fluids were stopped

On the same date, she administered Fragmin to another patient before they were due to have the medication. Another incident heard how Ms Gibson did not use two bags of intravenous fluid for a patient and how she administered oral furosemide instead of intravenous furosemide to a patient.

The most damning incident was involving a patient who requested pain relief on June 27, 2019. She snapped back words to the effect of “you will have to wait for the next shift for your pain relief”.

When asked again by the patient, Ms Gibson said words to the effect of “I can only do one thing at once”. The panel found she failed to administer pain relief to Patient B when she requested pain relief on one or more occasions.

Ms Gibson also refused to care for Patient H with clostridium difficile, a bacteria that causes diarrhoea, on August 13, 2019. The nurse was initially issued a three-month suspension order in August as a Substantive Order Review Hearing sought to assess whether the order should be extended or Ms Gibson should be struck off the register.

The panel heard that Ms Gibson, who did not attend the hearing, had “limited engagement” with the NMC and did not offer any mitigation to the proven charges. Its report added Ms Gibson does not have any intention of returning to nursing and her registration expired in August 2021.

The report concluded that Ms Gibson should be struck off the nursing register on the expiry of her suspension. The panel believed “Ms Gibson has not demonstrated any insight into her previous failings, nor has she shown any reflection or remorse into the impact and distress her actions have caused her patient.”

The report stated: “Given the nature of the misconduct, and the distress and pain caused to a patient as a result, the panel were disappointed at Ms Gibson’s lack of appreciation for the seriousness of this matter, and the detrimental impact her misconduct has had on the nursing profession. This is evidence by her lack of engagement with the NMC and unwillingness to demonstrate that she is capable of returning to safe practice and remaining on the register”.

This striking-off order will take effect upon the expiry of the current suspension order on December 13, 2023. The full report can be found through this link.^[3]

References

1. ^{^} Gloucestershire nurse gave out Covid-19 vaccines to friends and family of colleagues (www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk)
2. ^{^} ‘Lovely’ and ‘gentle’ father diagnosed with devastating brain tumour needs £50,000 for treatment abroad (www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk)
3. ^{^} The full report can be found through this link. (www.nmc.org.uk)