Nurse who was sacked by Sheffield Children's Hospital receives suspension order

A nurse has been given a suspension order after being sacked from Sheffield Children's Hospital.

Staff nurse Chloe Hill was said to have made false recordings for blood pressure and temperature for a child in the critical care unit in March 2016.

The nurse was handed a final written warning but later that year during a night shift in October, recorded the minute volume alarm settings which she did not calculate for another child and wrongly set the heart rate and oxygen saturation alarms.

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It was also noted Hill recorded a ventilation reading which she had not taken.

Following an internal disciplinary investigation, Hill was dismissed from Sheffield Children's Hospital Trust.

A Nursing and Midwifery Council Fitness to Practise Committee heard all 11 charges happened in March and October 2016 in relation to two patients.

The NMC panel said Miss Hill’s actions 'fell significantly short of the standards' expected of a registered nurse, her actions 'amounted to a breaches of the (Nursing) Code'.

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It was said her 'misconduct'' put 'vulnerable paediatric patients at unwarranted risk of harm' on 'more than one occasion' and 'attempted to deceive' her supervisor that she had followed the correct procedure to obtain accurate figures for patient observations.

The hearing heard the nurse started working for Sheffield Children's Hospital in September 2015 on the Paediactric Critical Care Unit - where patients receive treatment and care for the most serious medical or surgical conditions.

The newly qualified nurse was completing her preceptorship programme at the time of the allegations.

Hill said she 'takes responsibility for her actions' but that there were a 'number of issues' within the Ward.

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Giving he evidence to the panel via phone, she said the Trust 'failed to arrange an occupation health review for her' and felt 'unsupported on certain shifts' resulting in her ‘internalising her problems’.

Hill stated added has learnt from the mistakes that she made when she was working in the PCCU and expressed 'remorse' for her failings.

Sally Shearer, director of nursing and quality at Sheffield Children's Hospital, said: “We have a caring and professional workforce, and have high expectations for their behaviour and competence.

“Where a staff member fails to meet the required standards, we will have no hesitation in taking action, which could include disciplinary proceedings, removing a staff member or reporting them to their professional body.

“Families place a great deal of Trust in our staff for the care and safety of their children. We therefore take our responsibility to act on staffing concerns very seriously.”