A NURSE faces a conduct and competence hearing later this month after her employers launched internal enquiries when concerns were raised about her skills and knowledge.
Amanda Beer was employed as a band five staff nurse by East Coast Community Healthcare until early 2012 and faces a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) hearing starting on April 29.
The panel will be told that on several occasions she had “failed to demonstrate the standards of knowledge, skill and judgement required to practise without supervision” on dates between April 2009 and January 2012.
She faces an allegation that she was unable to demonstrate an appropriate level of clinical knowledge while working for East Coast in the Great Yarmouth area.
She allegedly could not explain some of the procedures she was asked to carry out, did not know the meaning of important nursing terminology or abbreviations, including the words “haematemesis” or “melanoma”, and could not differentiate between the use of day and night bags for catheters.
She also faces an allegation that she provided “inadequate care” to patients on several occasions.
It is alleged that she failed to remove a yellow introducer when running a line to a patient for a syringe driver, causing the medication flow to be impeded and used a night bag catheter during the day.
She allegedly incorrectly measured out diamorphine dilution into a syringe and incorrectly disposed of unused diamorphine.
She also faces an allegation that on one occasion she failed to give a patient oxygen therapy when her oxygen saturation levels fell below 92%.
East Coast Community Healthcare is now run as a social enterprise that covers the Great Yarmouth and Waveney area. Previously it was part of NHS Great Yarmouth and Waveney.
Tracy Cannell, managing director for East Coast Community Healthcare, said: “We came into being in October 2011 and Amanda Beer left our employment in January 2012 following internal enquiries.
“There was no incident which gave rise to this and no patient was adversely affected.
“It was our duty to inform the NMC at the time and we continue to co-operate fully with the NMC.”
The NMC Conduct and Competence Committee substantive hearing in London starts on April 29 and is scheduled to last for up to four days.
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