Nurse in double dose case fell short of standards, inquiry hears

An expert witness in a fitness-to-practice inquiry said it was her opinion that a nurse who gave a double dose of lithium to a patient fell short of the standards expected of her.

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland’s fitness-to-practice committee also heard that, if it was the case the nurse locked a patient in an assisted bathroom, this “flies in the face” of elder abuse policy.

The nurse denies locking the resident in the bathroom.

The allegations are among those brought against Procesa Basa Robediso, a nurse previously employed in Simpson's Hospital nursing home in Dundrum, Dublin between September 2010 and April 2013. Ms Basa Robediso is accused of professional misconduct and poor professional performance.

It is alleged that on March 13th, 2012, Ms Robediso incorrectly administered a double dose of Camcolit, a lithium-based psychiatric drug used to treat bipolar disorders, to an individual referred to as resident A.

Rita Gallagher, a director of nursing with 10-years experience and a registered nurse who has worked in elderly care since 1980, said the administering nurse has responsibility for the medication given to residents: "It is her duty of care to take due care."

Ms Gallagher said the “five rights” of medication management, “the right medicine, the right dose, the right route, the right patient, the right time” were “drilled into nurses” .

However, Ms Gallagher acknowledged that, in this instance, an error had been made by the pharmacy, while two other nurses tasked with checking the medication before the drug was administered by Ms Robediso had also failed to notice the error.

‘Wholly unacceptable’

In a separate incident, on February 13th, 2013, Ms Robediso is alleged to have locked a resident who was over 90-years-old, with moderate to severe dementia, in a bathroom.

Ms Gallagher said, if this was the case, it was “wholly unacceptable”, “flies in the face” of elder abuse policy and is something that should never be done.

Earlier the panel viewed CCTV footage of the alleged incident.

Matthew Jolley BL, acting on behalf of Ms Robediso, put it to witness Ciara Donovan that nothing in the footage suggested the nurse had locked the door on leaving the bathroom.

The committee heard that, after this incident, Ms Robediso had been dismissed from the nursing home. She had subsequently succeeded in an unfair dismissals case, as the nursing home’s procedures in dismissing her had been unfair.

The inquiry continues.