A Scots nurse who faked medical records has been suspended by a watchdog over foul-mouthed rants in front of dementia patients. Elizabeth Claire Mcallister was found to have exposed residents in her care to a “significant risk of unwarranted harm” during shifts at Whitefield Lodge Care Home in Lennoxtown, Glasgow.
The experienced caregiver admitted using inappropriate language, including the words ‘b****’ and ‘lazy b******’, before telling a colleague that one patient was ‘lying in their own piss and s***’ in May 2020. Mcallister told one vulnerable resident that they had fallen over deliberately because they liked the attention before also failing to properly access another person who had cut their head after a tumble.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) found that the nurse had also falsified records to state that she had carried out observations on residents when she hadn’t. After admitting all the allegations against her, Mcallister, who resigned from her position at the home, has now been suspended from practising for 12 months.
A decision notice by the NMC said: “At the material time, Mrs Mcallister was on shift at the Home in the capacity of a registered nurse. She was also the sole registered nurse on the relevant floor on each occasion, and was in a senior position to the carers on duty with her.
“The panel considered the charges to be extremely serious, particularly due to the vulnerability of the residents involved. The panel agreed with the submission of the NMC that dementia patients can present challenging behaviours which require sensitivity, respect and compassion, and that Mrs Mcallister failed to demonstrate this on a number of occasions to several different residents.
“Furthermore, Mrs Mcallister also acted dishonestly by knowingly recording false entries in residents’ Datix reports, purporting to have delivered care that had not been carried out. Mrs Mcallister was intentionally trying to mislead colleagues into thinking that care had been delivered to residents when it had not been.
“The panel was of the view that Mrs Mcallister had exposed residents in her care to a significant risk of unwarranted harm, again, noting as it did, that these residents were extremely vulnerable due to the nature of their health conditions. Her actions could have had serious ramifications for the health and wellbeing of the residents at the Home.
“The panel further noted that Mrs Mcallister accepted in her form titled ‘Your response to charges’ dated 17 July 2022 that her conduct was unacceptable. The panel concurred with the NMC’s submissions and saw nothing to undermine the points set out there. It considered the conduct sufficiently serious to cross the threshold of misconduct.”
In a response to the watchdog, Mcallister acknowledged her failures and said she planned to retire from all employment after a previously unblemished nursing career.
She stated that factors in her personal life had led to her behaviour at the home and added: “I fully accept that my conduct was wholly unacceptable, and that my fitness to practice was impaired.”
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