THOMPSON: NURSE FAILED TO RESUSCITATE DYING PATIENT

A senior nurse failed to resuscitate a stroke patient when she stopped breathing during a night shift, a hearing was told today (Mon).

Christine Thompson went in search of the dying woman’s medical records rather than starting CPR or calling for help, it is alleged.

The patient, who had been admitted to the Carter Bequest Hospital in Middlesborough for rehabilitation, was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.

Thompson then falsely claimed in paperwork she had raised the alarm and asked another nurse to fetch the resuscitation trolley, the Nursing and Midwifery Council heard.

Shelley Brownlee, for the NMC, said Thompson had checked on the woman, referred to only as Patient A, shortly before she was due to finish her shift, at around 7.15am on February 7, 2008.

‘It would seem that she found the patient in an unresponsive state,’ said Miss Brownlee.

‘Patient A was not breathing and had no pulse.

‘She was unsure whether there was a ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ (DNR) status in place or not, so she left Patient A and went to the nursing office in order to consider the position.

‘The reality is that she had failed to initiate resuscitation at this stage in accordance with trust procedures, and also to press the emergency buzzer.’

Patient A was not on the DNR list and should have been tended to immediately, she added.

Clinical leader Beverly Dredge, who led the internal investigation, said Thompson was aware of the correct procedures and had undertaken life support training just months before the incident, in June 2007.

Giving evidence, she said: ‘Even though she was aware of the procedure it seemed as though she had taken more consideration to look for a list to see whether it was documented whether the patient was a DNR.

‘I would have expected her to have stayed with Patient A and pulled the emergency buzzer or shouted for help and to have initiated some form of CPR, or at least get her flat in bed so that could be started.

‘Instead she left the patient and went out into the corridor, but if she had followed policy she would never have been in the corridor in the first place.’

She said Thompson had also recorded that she had called for paramedics and asked another staff nurse to fetch the resuscitation trolley.

‘But the paramedics were never rung,’ she added.

‘And obviously the trolley was never moved from its holding spot in the corridor.

‘If she was under the impression that she was going to ring the paramedics and that was never done, I would expect her to explain why.

‘In some respects, it looks to me as if what is documented did not happen.

Thomspon is not attending her misconduct hearing in central London.

During the internal investigation, she claimed another staff nurse had told her not to resuscitate the patient because she had been dead for some time, the panel heard.

Thompson denies failing to start resuscitation, activate the emergency buzzer and contact the emergency services, and dishonestly making inaccurate entries in Patient A’s notes.

If found guilty of misconduct she could be struck off the nursing register.

ends