Posted 16 September 2024 - 16:05
Posted 16 September 2024 - 16:05
News
Nurse who faced more than 100 charges struck off
Nursing and Midwifery Council fitness to practise (FtP) panel heard nurse Xandra De Leon Samson inappropriately challenged medication and patient discharge decisions made by doctors and senior colleagues. Panel found ‘over 70 instances of wide-ranging misconduct’, while ten charges were not proved and on 14 there was no case to answer.
Fitness to practise panel heard nurse Xandra De Leon Samson inappropriately challenged medication and patient discharge decisions made by doctors and senior colleagues
A nurse with ‘challenging behaviour’ who refused to assist colleagues when a patient went into cardiac arrest, saying ‘I don’t care’, has been struck off by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).
Adult nurse Xandra De Leon Samson was referred to the NMC by former employers Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust and faced more than 100 charges, including repeatedly challenging or refusing to issue medication prescribed by senior doctors. The panel found 77 charges were proved, ten were not proved and on 14 there was no case to answer.
Multiple charges include failure to work collaboratively or to take instructions from senior colleagues
A fitness to practise (FtP) panel also heard Ms Samson created her own record-keeping system where she took ‘overly detailed notes resulting in repeatedly having to leave work hours after her shift had ended’.
The nurse left her position at Hammersmith Hospital in May 2018 and went on to work at Ealing Hospital in October 2018 as a band 5 nurse on the acute medical unit. Within weeks, complaints were being raised about the nurse ‘on almost every shift’.
Senior staff recalled that on one occasion she had allegedly refused to perform a handover, citing an electromagnetic force on the ward. They also claimed she would ‘hide’ during emergencies and carry out administrative tasks when her team requested help with patients.
The panel heard she also refused to remove a patient’s catheter despite being asked to do so by two doctors and two senior nurses, and on another occasion overruled a doctor by telling a patient they did not need to return to the hospital for a blood test.
Five themes for the range of charges, including failure to provide appropriate care
The NMC, which held its final hearing in relation to the case on 3 September, broke down the multiple charges into five themes. These were:
- Failure to provide timely and/or appropriate care to patients.
- Failure to work collaboratively as part of a team, including failing to assist patients appropriately in an emergency.
- Record-keeping failures.
- Failure to take instructions from senior colleagues.
- Repeatedly working outside your scope of practice, particularly in relation to medicines management and administration.
Ms Samson had requested that the hearing be postponed, saying she had had insufficient time to read the evidence bundle shared with her in October 2022, as her home, now in the Philippines, had been destroyed by a typhoon and then a fire.
Panel finds ‘over 70 instances of wide-ranging misconduct’
The nurse also told the panel that the fast-paced and demanding work environment should be taken into account, but the NMC determined ‘this was not an unusual environment for nurses to be working in’.
The panel said in its report: ‘This case involved over 70 instances of wide-ranging misconduct. There was evidence of a deep-seated attitudinal issue.
‘Your repeated misconduct continued, despite support, training and mentorship, over a significant period of time at two trusts. This illustrates a serious failure to prioritise people, preserve patient safety, and promote professionalism and trust.’
The NMC issued a striking off order, with an interim suspension order of 18 months to allow for appeal.
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