Suspension for nurse in home rage
SHE POURED JUICE ON RESIDENT IN ANGER
Reporter A CARE home nurse who poured a cup of juice over an elderly woman’s head has been suspended from the profession for 12 months.
Emma Reyes also grabbed the dementia patient’s hand and smacked it during the incident at Kenton Manor Care Home in Newcastle in December 2015, a disciplinary panel has found.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council hearing was told Reyes pleaded guilty to battery following the incident and was given a 12-month conditional discharge.
Now she has been barred from nursing for 12 months after the NMC ruled her conduct had brought the profession into disrepute.
A report of the hearing said Reyes was employed at Kenton Manor Care Home where she cared for ‘Resident A’ - a vulnerable elderly woman who suffered from dementia and was known to display “unpredictable” behaviour.
The panel was told Reyes and Resident A were at a table with another resident at lunchtime on December 6.
Resident A tried to take the other resident’s pudding but Reyes stopped her and told her it was not hers.
The NMC report said: “Resident A then took a glass of juice or cordial from the table and threw it over Mrs Reyes who got up from her chair and began to grab at Resident A and exclaimed ‘what are you doing?.’
“Mrs Reyes then grabbed Resident A’s hand and smacked the back of it. Mrs Reyes appeared angry at this point and was raising her voice. Mrs Reyes had to be pushed away from the resident by a colleague.”
The panel heard that Reyes went to get paper towels to dry herself, but as a colleague was taking Resident A out of the room, Reyes walked back towards her and poured a cup of liquid over her head.
The report said: “It is accepted by both parties that this was not a large amount of liquid but that it was sufficient to leave Resident A’s hair wet and in need of drying. Resident A was screaming and visibly upset by the incident.”
The matter was reported to the police who charged Reyes with battery, it was said.
She pleaded guilty - on a limited basis of plea accepting that she had poured liquid over Resident A’s head - and received a 12 month conditional discharge.
In a statement Reyes said she was “horrified” by her actions and wanted to “apologise profusely”.
She said: “After pouring a small quantity of blackcurrant juice into patient A’s head I immediately realised that what I did was inappropriate.
“I had a feeling of remorse and regret and the feeling of empathy towards Patient A.”
Ruling she should be suspended for 12 months, the panel said Reyes had “demonstrated full insight into her misconduct and taken extensive steps to reflect upon her behaviour”.
Their decision said: “There has been no repetition of Mrs Reyes’s conduct since the time of this incident despite her working in a healthcare environment as a carer for residents with dementia.”
Thomas Varghese, operations director of Solehawk Ltd said, which owns Kenton Manor Care Home, said: “We are aware of the allegations made over Emma Reyes, who has been dismissed through our rigorous internal procedures.
“Should the allegations be true, her actions fall seriously below our standard operating procedures.”