Nurse guilty over toddler injury

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A nurse of 31 years could be struck off for a series of failings over a two-year-old girl's head injury.

Doreen Roberts, from Builth Wells, Powys, was found guilty of professional misconduct by a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) panel in Cardiff.

It followed an incident in June 2006 involving the toddler who had been hit on the head by a vacuum cleaner.

Ms Roberts denied neglecting to take the girl to the hospital's minor injury unit for examination and other charges.

The panel heard the girl was taken to the hospital in Builth Wells after she was hit by the cleaner which had pinned her against a door.

The girl's mother said her daughter had pulled the flex of the cleaner from the bottom of the stairs, causing it to tumble from the top and hit her at the bottom step.

Ambulance

The panel heard that after being briefly seen by Ms Roberts, the child was taken to another cottage hospital in Llandrindod Wells by her concerned mother.

After examination there, the girl was immediately taken by ambulance to the nearest major hospital, 40 miles away in Hereford.

Ms Roberts also denied failing to take details of the child's accident and allowing her to be driven to the nearby hospital in Llandrindod Wells by car.

She admitted two charges of failing to complete documentation recording the girl's visit to hospital and not calling for an ambulance for her.

At the time I did a visual assessment and in my opinion the child was not unconscious Doreen Roberts

After more than an hour of deliberation, the panel decided the three contested allegations were proven.

Ms Roberts had claimed the girl's mother was determined to see a doctor.

She said: "I did ask her (the mother) to go through to the (minor injuries) unit but she just said 'I want to see a doctor'.

"At the time I did a visual assessment and in my opinion the child was not unconscious."

Under cross-examination by Joanna Dirmikis, barrister for the NMC, Ms Roberts was questioned about the extent of her assessment in the five minutes she saw the girl.

"It would not have taken very long to say 'What is the injury?' and ' How did it happen?'," said Ms Dirmikis.

"I have never been in the habit of saying that," the nurse replied.

The barrister responded: "Surely that should have been the first question you should have asked?"

Professional misconduct

She also asked the nurse how she was able to say the child was not limp without holding her in her arms.

Ms Dirmikis added: "A visual assessment is not good enough is it?"

Ms Roberts replied:" It doesn't look like it."

After deliberation, the panel found Ms Roberts's actions amounted to professional misconduct.

It will reconvene at a later date to decided what sanctions, if any, they will take against the nurse.