Blackburn nurse sobs as career is saved (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Blackburn nurse sobs as career is saved

11:51am Tuesday 16th June 2009 in

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A NURSE who allowed a colleague with asthma to help herself to medication sobbed as she was told she could keep her job.

Lisa McCallion, 39, told the hospital support worker where the Ventolin was kept so she could give herself a dose at the Royal Blackburn Hospital.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council heard the woman, referred to as A, could feel she was about to have an asthma attack.

McCallion was charged with giving a trust worker a prescription only drug although the woman administered the Ventolin herself.

Shelley Brownlee, for the NMC, said McCallion should not have allowed this to happen and 'A' should have gone to the Accident and Emergency Department.

She claimed McCallion also failed to carry out any observations, other than asking if she felt okay.

McCallion was suspended after the incident on June 9, 2007.

She has since undergone further medicine training and found work as a theatre practitioner at Beardwood Hospital in Blackburn.

McCallion, of Accrington, admitted the charge but was told she is still fit to practice as a nurse.

As NMC chair Gill Barker read out their decision, McCallion broke down in tears and said: 'Finally, it’s over.'

Ms Barker said: 'The nurse has clearly breached the code. She treated A as if she were a patient and failed to carry out any base line observations and gave a drug which was prescription only.

'However, the panel gives the nurse credit for the remorse she has shown for her actions and has since undertaken specific accredited training in connection with the control and administration of medicines.

'We also note that she has been working for her current employer since January 2008.

'The panel are in no doubt that the misconduct which has been admitted by the nurse is serious but we find that having considered the up-to-date situation the nurse’s fitness to practice is not impaired.'

McCallion, who attending the hearing with her representative James Gilberthorpe, can now continue her career as a nurse with an unblemished record.