Nurse is sacked over false patient records

She must now be watched for 18 months say panel

A sacked nurse who admitted falsifying patient records at Perth Royal Infirmary as well as failing to administer drugs must be heavily supervised if she wants to work as a nurse again, a disciplinary panel has decided.

Pauline Shipman, who worked on ward four at PRI until she was fired by NHS Tayside after her shortcomings came to light, admitted a long list of allegations against her when she appeared before a Nursing and Midwifery Council panel last month, it has emerged.

In addition to falsifying records to make it look like she had completed her rounds and failing to administer drugs resulting in a patient becoming unwell Ms Shipman, who the panel described as having a “previous unblemished career of 40 years”, also admitted failing to check a patient for bed sores and failing to empty the catheter bag of another.

The fitness to practice panel decided, however, that Ms Shipman, who has not worked as a nurse since she was sacked, did not deserve to be struck off the register because it valued her years of experience and she had not displayed any “harmful, deep-seated personality or long-term attitudinal problems.”

Issuing a interim conditions of practice order the panel decided instead that Ms Shipman must be heavily supervised by her superiors if she wants to and is able to return to work as a nurse, particularly when she is trusted to administer drugs, anytime in the next 18 months starting next week.

“The registrant has been a nurse for many years and there have been no previous regulatory concerns raised