A BASINGSTOKE nurse who made a series of errors in administering a drug to a patient has been temporarily suspended from working by the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
The council’s disciplinary panel has yet to conclude the case of Bemarich Cainto, despite hearing three days of evidence in London.
Mr Cainto admitted ignoring specific instructions from a senior doctor on November 30, 2011, at Basingstoke hospital. He gave a patient the drug Calcitonin via an intravenous infusion (IV) rather than by the prescribed injection.
He said he did so because he believed the patient, who was in the acute assessment unit with a rheumatological condition, was dehydrated.
He also compounded his error by using a roller clamp instead of a specialist pump on the IV, meaning the drug flowed too fast into the patient, and he admitted signing to say he had administered the drug before he actually did so.
He also failed to arrange for the administration of the drug to be checked and witnessed by a second nurse, in accordance with the trust’s code of practice.
Mr Cainto admitted all the charges except that his fitness to practise was impaired.
The three-member NMC panel found all charges proved bar a charge that he administered half the amount of Calcitonin that had been prescribed.
They decided that Mr Cainto’s fitness to practise was “currently impaired” and imposed an interim suspension order, preventing him from working as a nurse until the hearing is concluded and a sanction imposed.
Mr Cainto is not currently working as a nurse or employed by Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
In their published reasons, the panel advised Mr Cainto: “This was a lapse of judgement on your part when dealing with a drug of which you had little experience. However, the panel has not been provided with evidence from you to satisfy itself that patients would not be put at risk of harm in the future.”
They said his departure from proper standards of nursing helped undermine public confidence in the nursing profession.
The hearing is due to resume on September 2.
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