Nurse suspended

A NURSE who used to work at the Gilbert Bain Hospital in Lerwick has been suspended for one year following a hearing of the Nursing and Midwifery Council earlier this week.

Giak Siau Abernethy accepted that charges of authorising a patient to self-medicate when it was not clinically justified and then covering up her actions on 5 September 2014 amounted to misconduct.

She also admitted charges of conducting herself in an “inappropriate manner” towards two patients on 5 September 2014, as well as incorrectly setting a patient’s intravenous drip to administer medication on 3 November 2014.

In its determination the hearing panel said: “The Registrant’s misconduct, whilst not fundamentally incompatible with her remaining on the register, was sufficiently serious to warrant temporary removal from nursing practice.

“In addition, a suspension order would be sufficient to maintain confidence in the profession by marking the Registrant’s conduct as unacceptable.

“A lesser sanction is not sufficient in this case due to the seriousness of the incidents. It is submitted that a period of suspension would be sufficient to protect patients and is in the public interest.”

Abernethy was dismissed by NHS Shetland in December 2014.