Nigerian Nurse Loses License for Sleeping During Shift in Australia
Nigerian Nurse Loses License for Sleeping During Shift in Australia
A Nigerian-born nurse, Chimzuruoke Okembunachi, has had her nursing license cancelled in Australia for professional misconduct.
A tribunal found her guilty of sleeping during night shifts while working at an aged care facility in Sydney.
The ruling emphasized that her actions severely compromised the safety and well-being of the vulnerable residents under her care.
The incidents took place in March 2024 at Hardi Aged Care, shortly after she began her employment. As the sole registered nurse on the night shift, she was responsible for overseeing 100 elderly residents and supervising several assistants. This high-stakes role required constant alertness that the tribunal found she failed to maintain.
The tribunal heard that Okembunachi slept on six separate nights between March 13 and March 27. Most critically, her negligence resulted in elderly patients missing essential doses of morphine on three different occasions. These failures to administer pain medication were viewed as major breaches of her professional responsibilities.
Evidence showed that colleagues tried to wake her during these shifts, but she remained unresponsive to her duties. In one instance, after an assistant turned on a light to alert her, she simply switched it off and went back to sleep. This behavior demonstrated a persistent and conscious neglect of her clinical obligations.
The nurse was also found to have improperly delegated medication tasks to unauthorized junior staff members. She reportedly pressured an assistant-in-nursing to administer Panadol despite the assistant’s lack of legal qualification to do so. This disregard for strict medical protocols further highlighted her professional incompetence during the period.
Management was alerted to her conduct on March 27 following reports from concerned colleagues. Upon being suspended and invited to a disciplinary meeting the next day, Okembunachi chose not to defend herself. Instead, she resigned from her position via email just 20 minutes after receiving the notification.
In her defense, Okembunachi admitted she was struggling to balance her night shifts with medical studies at Western Sydney University. She expressed regret, acknowledging that the stress of her schedule put patients at risk. She conceded that she should never have accepted the demanding role under those personal circumstances.
Ultimately, the tribunal cancelled her registration and disqualified her from reapplying for two years. The decision underscored that the safety of residents must always take priority over a practitioner’s personal or academic interests.
This ruling serves as a firm warning regarding the accountability required within the Australian healthcare system.
