A NURSE has been suspended from her job at a care home.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council ordered that Elaine Julia Fiona Etheridge, who had been working at the Birch Hall Care Home, in Darwen, be stopped from practising for 18 months.

A hearing was told there were concerns over allegations she refused to administer pain relief to a resident, did not help a man who had asked to be repositioned in bed and did not check another resident’s blood sugar levels for 12 nights out of 16.

It is also alleged that Miss Etheridge was asleep on duty on ‘numerous occasions’ and that on one occasion when she was woken up by her colleagues, she still went back to sleep.

In addition, she was accused of not escalating concerns about low blood sugar readings and not working as part of a team.

The interim order was imposed on Miss Etheridge at an investigation committee hearing at the NMC’s headquartes at the Old Bailey, in London, which she failed to attend.

Rachel Ellis, case presenter instructed by the NMC regulatory legal team said an interim order was necessary on the grounds of public protection. Panel chair Moriam Bartlett said in a report: “The panel is of the view that based on the information before it there is a serious risk of repetition and harm to patients as there had been previous concerns regarding her patient care.

“The panel considered the allegations to be wide ranging, while the repeated failures to monitor blood sugar levels and the failure to escalate concerns about a patient with a very low blood sugar reading are extremely serious.

“The panel therefore concluded that some form of interim order is necessary on the grounds of public protection and an order is also otherwise in the public interest, in order to main_tain confidence in the professions and the NMC as regulator.”