Nurse accused of punishing elderly patient who wet herself (UK)

A hospital nurse shouted at an elderly woman and stripped her naked in front of other patients, a hearing has been told.

Memory Musekiwa is accused of pushing the pensioner, who had wet herself, onto a commode in full view and then refusing to wash her.

If she is found guilty of the 'brutal' behaviour, the 35-year-old could be struck off the nursing register.

The patient, who was in her late seventies, 'cried and cried' following the incident at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) heard.

She cannot be named and during the hearing was referred to only as Patient A.

Musekiwa, from Walsall, West Midlands, shouted, removed the woman's nightdress and then left her with no curtain around her, said Salim Hafejee for the NMC.

'She then pushed Patient A on to a commode and told her to stay there while she went to get a mop,' he told the
panel.

'When Patient A asked to be washed, she refused and put a clean nightdress on her.'

He added: 'She failed to appropriately deal with a patient who found herself in a situation where she could not help herself. She did not protect this patient's dignity.'

Fellow patient Julie Owen sobbed as she told the misconduct panel that she had been woken by the elderly woman asking for help that night, before hearing the nurse telling the patient off.

'Then she took Patient A's nightdress and underwear off and left her standing there while she went to fetch a mop and bucket,' she said.

'At no point were the curtains put around her. Her dignity was completely stripped. There was no delicacy. No bowl was brought to wash Patient A with.

'There was no cleanliness. She had wet herself and the nurse was putting clean clothes on an unclean body. I clearly heard Patient A say to her "don't be so brutal".

'After the nurse had gone Patient A just sat on her bed and cried and cried.'

Musekiwa was reported to the NMC after Miss Owen made a complaint at the hospital in Worcester the next day.

The nurse is accused of shouting at the elderly woman, failing to promote her dignity, pushing her on to a commode and refusing to wash her.

She admits stripping the patient naked without closing the curtains around her in the early hours of November 12 2007, but denies the other charges against her.