Stacey McDonald’s nurse misconduct hearing took place in London between Monday, January 12, and Wednesday, January 21.
She was charged with failing to demonstrate the standards of knowledge, skill and judgement required to practice without supervision as a band five nurse having worked for Oxford Health between April 2021 and November 2022, and at Banbury Cross between November 2022 and January 2023.
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Ms McDonald admitted this for her time at the former but only partially admitted it for her time at the latter.
In addition she accepted that she had not disclosed to Banbury Cross that she had been subject to a formal capability plan at Oxford Health NHS Trust.
A formal capability plan is a structured process used by healthcare employers to help nurses improve and was put in place after Ms McDonald had made a number of errors.
File picture of a nurse (Image: Getty Images)
She first registered as a nurse at the Oxford Trust in April 2021 and between then and November 2022, her mistakes included going against an alert about a patient allergy, missing a patient’s insulin dose and writing incorrect dates on official forms.
As such she was placed on a formal capability plan in May 2022, and in December of that same year, she commenced her employment with Banbury Cross Health Centre, having not informed them of her status.
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The nurse misconduct panel ruled that she had been dishonest and had sought to mislead the potential employer.
After she began at Banbury Cross, the health centre was informed she was under investigation and so ordered a senior nurse to supervise her as she administered an injection, but she did it unadministered.
In February 2023, her employment was terminated from Banbury Cross.
Though the unadministered dose was confirmed to have happened, the panel accepted Ms McDonald’s excuse that she had missed the note informing her a senior nurse had to be present.
However, the panel did make clear she had made a significant number of errors.
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They said: “The panel is of the view that the number of errors and the sustained period of duration demonstrated that you were not competent.”
On the topic of the proven dishonesty, they said: “The panel determined that members of the public would be alarmed if they knew that a qualified nurse had misrepresented their ability to practise to prospective employers.”
Overall they added: “Having regard to all of the above, the panel was satisfied that your fitness to practise is currently impaired by reasons of your misconduct and your lack of competence.”
Ms McDonald has been suspended for nine months.