A senior nurse must bid farewell to her career after she was struck off for turning up tipsy to work.
A witness who saw Karen Teal begin her shift at Newton Court Nursing Home, in Middlewich, claimed she was still ‘bouncing off the walls’.
She was said to be still swaying following a heavy booze binge 14 hours earlier and was worse for wear when she took charge as the ‘sole night nurse on duty’, responsible for 60 residents.
Another witness described a strong whiff of alcohol wafting from Mrs Teal during the June 2012 episode.
Her case ended up before the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s Conduct and Competence Committee as it debated how to address her failings.
The committee found that she had attended work while under the influence of alcohol and made three medication errors.
“The panel is of the view that every practitioner would regard it as wholly unacceptable to work as a nurse when intoxicated”.
Although no actual harm had been caused to residents, Mrs Teal had shown ‘a persistent lack of insight’ into her misconduct.
The panel said it had no option but to ‘direct the Registrar to strike her name from the Register’.
