Nurse who went on holiday faces being struck off

By Cara Sulieman
A NURSE faces being struck off after she chose to go on holiday rather than achieve the competencies she needed to be deemed a safe practitioner, a tribunal has heard.

Elaine Duncan, 25, is said to have consistently failed to meet the objectives laid down for her while she worked in the Coronary Care Unit at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

Although already a registered nurse, Duncan was undergoing a nursing degree course and Grampian NHS’s Staff Nurse Development programme when the alleged failure of her competencies occurred between March and September 2006.

And despite reaching the end of the programme it was felt that Duncan was not competent in a number of areas she was required for.

But instead of staying and catching up with the work, Duncan, from Fraserburgh, decided to carry on her plan of travelling to Australia where she wanted to work as a staff nurse.

It was at this time that her mentor, ward manager Elaine Slattery, felt the need to report her to the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

Duncan was not present at the hearing yesterday in Edinburgh.

The two most serious charges against the defendant involved drugs being wrongly administered to patients.

In June 2006, the nurse had allegedly failed to check a patient’s blood sugar levels for three hours – causing the patient to become hypo-glycaemic.

And earlier that month, Duncan is said to have given intravenous Insulin to a patient who was already receiving the drug orally – potentially endangering their life.

Although both patients were unharmed by the alleged mistakes, Sister Slattery became increasingly worried about Duncan’s competence as a nurse.

Problems became apparent

Duncan is also said to have failed to answer a number of questions put to her by her mentor after she was asked to revise the topics as “homework”.

These fortnightly reviews formed an essential part of her ongoing development plan.

Previously, the nurse had successfully completed the first part of the programme in the Gynaecological Unit of the same hospital.

But when she started in the Coronary Care unit the problems with her knowledge became apparent.

When Ms Slattery was asked about the concerns she had about Duncan, she said that at first she didn’t think they would cause long-term problems.

She said: “I had no problems in taking on Staff Nurse Duncan. When it became clear that she needed an action plan I ensured that it was put in place and was confident that she would be able to progress under supervision.”

The panel also heard from Jane Ewen, the Educational Facilitator of the degree course Duncan was taking at Dundee University.

She stated that Duncan had failed to achieve her degree as she had not completed the competencies that were an essential part of the programme.

She said: “It was a surprise to me that after two extensions, Miss Duncan still failed to get the competencies required of her signed off by a member of staff. As far as I am aware she went travelling without achieving degree status.”

The hearing against Duncan in Edinburgh continues.

Jailed nurse struck off nursing register

By Alexander Lawrie

A FILIPINO nurse who was jailed for abusing dementia suffering pensioners under his care has been struck from the nursing register.

Jeffrey Ednalan’s cruel assaults included stuffing a deodorant can in the mouth of a 95-year-old man to stop him shouting, and two counts of indecent assault including handling a frail 86-year-old woman’s naked breasts.

Ednalan, 36, was found guilty of all charges in front of the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s Conduct and Competence Committee, in Edinburgh yesterday.

The panel ordered Ednalan’s name to be struck from the register after learning he had been caged for 15 months for the systematic abuse of residents at an Edinburgh care home.

He also ordered seven residents to remain in their unchanged incontinence pads all day “just to save time” later in the day.

Ednalan was placed on the sex offender’s list for ten years for his horrific attacks when he was convicted at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in May 2007.

During the court case the married father-of-one denied all the charges set before him and insisted his fellow workers made up the allegations out of jealousy at his senior position.

During his trail he claimed: “I am not a terror person, I would never do that. I was never superior to them.”

Ednalan – who failed to appear before the nursing panel – was initially employed at Colinton Care Home in Edinburgh as an adaptational nurse, but his attitude was said to have changed once he became fully-qualified.

The three-person nursing panel heard written statements from two witnesses at yesterday’s hearing – a police statement, and an account from the care home manager Dawn Hamilton – before making their judgment.

Chair Judith Worthington said: “The panel finds the registrant’s fitness to practice is indeed impaired.

“We took into account all of the relevant details and considered all the witness statements, which we found to be credible.

“The panel has noted the assaults were of a severe nature, and were very serious involving elderly dementia-suffering residents.

“All the allegations against the respondent were well-founded.”

The catalogue of assaults on the residents took place between October 2005 and March 2006.

In the most shocking of the assaults, Ednalan struck a 95-year-old man, who suffered from dementia and anxiety, on the back of the head with a towel.

When the elderly resident complained, Ednalan then proceeded to stuff a deodorant can into the man’s mouth, and then replaced it with five cleaning wipes.

He also grabbed a 76-year-old woman by the shoulders and shook her violently.

The disgraced nurse also faced two counts of indecent assault on elderly female residents at the home.

He was found guilty of handling an 86-year-old woman’s naked breasts, and brutally assaulting another female resident by touching her breasts through her clothes.

The tribunal heard the senior nurse also left seven residents in their dirty incontinence pads all day to “save time”.

All of Ednalan’s crimes were uncovered after worried staff at the care home reported him to the newly-appointed manager of the home.

Striking Ednalan from the nursing register, the panel stated: “We have considered this case very carefully and have decided to make a striking off order.

“The charges the registrant was convicted of caused serious harm to vulnerable and elderly people, and had the potential to harm resident’s mental health in the future.

“This repeated abuse is of a very serious nature.

“It is in the public interest, and to maintain public confidence in the nursing profession, that we have made this decision.”

An interim order of 18 months was placed against Ednalan in case of any appeal on his part.

The Filipino national was also handed a deportation order by the courts after he was sentenced in 2007.