Golders Green nurse overdosed patient on painkillers and hid mistake, inquiry hears
Nurse Modupeola Ayobami Adetunji mistakenly administered double the prescribed dose of painkillers to a patient on numerous occasions. Picture: PA Wire/Press Association Images. - Credit: PA Wire/Press Association Images
A care home nurse who administered double the prescribed dose of painkillers to an elderly patient on numerous occasions attempted to cover up her mistake by falsifying records, an inquiry has heard.
Modupeola Ayobami Adetunji was handed a five-year caution by the Nurse and Midwifery Council (NMC) after committing a string of errors while working at Heathgrove Lodge Nursing Home, in Finchley Road, Golders Green.
The mother-of-four, who came to the UK from Nigeria in 2002, was described as “learning the ropes” during her eight-year role at Heathgrove Lodge, which was her first job in nursing.
An NMC fitness to practise panel ruled on November 22 that Mrs Adetunji’s fitness was impaired having heard she resigned from the care home in December 2011 after it was discovered she had overdosed a patient on painkillers and attempted to hide the mistake.
The panel was told Mrs Adetunji erroneously administered a patient twice the prescribed amount of Buprenorphine, a painkiller similar to morphine, over two days in October 2011.
She then altered the nursing home’s drugs register to conceal the overdose.
It followed a handful of record-keeping errors from Mrs Adetunji between 2003 and 2010.
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Addressing the panel, Mrs Adetunji, who now works at Hugh Myddelton House care home in Southgate, expressed remorse for her actions but said it was “fear and panic” that had led her to try and conceal the overdose.
She will now remain on the NMC register as a nurse subject to a caution order for the next five years.
In October, the Care Quality Commission ordered Heathgrove Lodge Nursing Home to improve after inspectors found call-bells were sometimes left unanswered by nurses for up to 30 minutes.
