Romanian nurse struck off register for ‘dishonest conduct’

A Romanian nurse who put patients in danger due to his lack of English has been struck off by the industry watchdog.

Catalin Zigra could not communicate properly with patients or staff at Balhousie’s Pitlochry Care Home and made mistakes with medication, resulting in him being sacked.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) ruled Zigra was unfit to practise due to his lack of English, lack of competence and misconduct.

A hearing in Edinburgh, which Zigra did not attend, heard a colleague supervising a medication round asked Zigra to identify three common drugs, which he could not do.

He also counted medication in Romanian before giving the colleague the final figure in English. However, the number Zigra gave would often be far higher than the total amount of surplus medication.

Zigra initially failed to tell his new bosses about being fired, later claiming he had been sacked for “stupid reasons”.

The NMC concluded: “Mr Zigra’s actions and his dishonest conduct were significant departures from the standards expected of a registered nurse and are fundamentally incompatible with him remaining on the register.

“The panel determined that Mr Zigra showed no insight into the seriousness of his actions. It was of the view that Mr Zigra put his own needs first when omitting pertinent information in the application form for employment and, in so doing, this was indicative of an attitudinal problem.

“The panel concluded that its findings in this case were serious and to allow him to continue practising would undermine public confidence.”