A nurse who was caught drinking at a north-east care home has been struck-off the nursing register.
Christina Taylor told investigators she “could have killed 25 people” and feels only “shame and embarrassment” after being found asleep at the reception desk during a night shift at Maryfield West Care Home on Aberdeen’s Queens Road in 2014.
Colleagues also discovered she had not given any medication to residents of the home, which cares for people with dementia, but that the drug trolley had been left open and unattended.
When she woke up, Taylor – who has 28 years of experience – admitted to taking codeine on duty.
An empty 70cl bottle of vodka was also found in her bag.
She was the only nurse on duty at the home when the incident happened on October 8, 2014, and was responsible for 25 residents.
Taylor admitted at an internal investigation she had been drinking, and was sacked for gross misconduct.
When her case went before the Nursing and Midwifery Council in 2016, the panel heard she was “deeply ashamed” of her actions and suspended her from the register for 12 months.
The panel agreed her failings could have resulting in “significant harm to several vulnerable patients”.
Mrs Taylor did not attend the latest hearing, but the panel had received assertions from her that “she would not work in the healthcare sector again” and that she was “still disinclined to visit the details of the incident as it is a deep source of shame and embarrassment”.
In the investigatory meeting minutes of October 14, 2014, Mrs Taylor was asked if she understood the consequences of her actions. She replied: “I could have killed 25 people.”
The panel concluded that it was “necessary to uphold the public interest” and to serve a striking off order which will come into effect on August 28 2017.