A nurse who placed surgical tape over a patient’s mouth was overworked and stressed at the time of the incident, a disciplinary hearing has been told.
Consultant psychiatrist Patricia Noone said the nurse, Bimbo Paden, was working in a stressful environment at St John’s community hospital in Sligo, and one that was inadequately staffed.
Three charges
Mr Paden (42), a nurse at the hospital for more than 10 years, faces three charges of professional misconduct before the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland in relation to the incident on June 26th, 2013.
Dr Noone, who examined Mr Paden last March, said he was not a person to complain about his workload or being under pressure. He had a tendency to “put up with it”.
On the day of the incident, he was under particular stress because a colleague who was normally available to help him with high-dependency patients was not available and he was working on his own.
Dr Noone said she believed he was suffering from stress and fatigue and an ongoing anxiety, which interfered with his normal rational and caring manner as a nurse.
Mr Paden told her he put the tape on the patient’s mouth because a patient in an adjoining bed was becoming agitated by the patient’s “constant shouting”.
He had intended to remove it “a few seconds” after he had moved the patient to a chair using a sling hoist. However, another nurse came in and saw the tape in place on the patient’s mouth.
He described to Dr Noone feeling very guilty and remorseful and said he didn’t know what had come over him.
Dr Noone diagnosed depression and anxiety and determined Mr Paden was not an ongoing risk to patients.
Low staffing
Earlier, the hearing heard evidence the ward was understaffed on the day of the incident. Nurse Grainne McHugh, who was the manager on duty on the ward, said staffing was low that day.
Lawyers for Mr Paden, who accepts he is guilty of professional misconduct over the incident, have argued he was stressed as a result of having to cope with a large number of patients.
"I agreed we could have done with more staff," she told Noel Whelan, barrister for Mr Paden, on the second day of the hearing. "But if any member of staff feels unsafe it is their responsibility to get assistance and support."
While staffing was low, Mr Paden could have removed himself from a situation he considered unsafe, Ms McHugh said. “No professional should put himself in any situation that’s unsafe.”
She said Mr Paden had never come to her to say he was stressed or unhappy with his workload.
The hearing was adjourned to November 3rd.
