Nurse was seven times over limit
A NURSE caught driving while seven times over the legal alcohol limit has been sanctioned.
Christina Spence was banned from getting behind the wheel for two years and handed a Community Payback Order.
The nurse has now been told she will only be able to work in the health service if she is supervised.
An inquiry by the Nursing and Midwifery Council found she had also made a number of care blunders while employed at Glasgow hospitals and had turned up to work “unfit”, placing her patients at risk.
A GLASGOW nurse caught driving when she was seven times over the legal alcohol limit has been sanctioned.
Christina Spence was banned from driving and handed a Community Payback Order after tests showed she had 373 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 50 milligrams.
Ms Spence has now been told by nursing watchdogs she can only work in the health service if she is supervised.
An inquiry by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NCM) found she had made a number of care blunders including a serious error with an intra-venous drip, when she had not been trained to do it. She also left medication unattended and turned up for work while “unfit” and “sleepy” placing her patients at risk.
The incidents happened while she was working at Glas- gow Royal Infirmary, the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and Flemington Care Home in Cambuslang.
Ms Spence was sacked by the health board in July 2015 and started working at the care home but was dismissed after less than a month.
In her evidence to the NMC the nurse said that she had experienced personal difficulties and a health problem but was now receiving support.
She was convicted of drink driving at Hamilton Sheriff Court on June 21 last year.
The NMC said “such a serious conviction” would undermine the trust placed in the nurse by the public. Ms Spence admitted three charges of misconduct. However the inquiry panel said the nurse had expressed “significant insight” and remorse for her actions and was receiving support for health issues.
She was given an 18-month conditions of practice order.