A nurse who failed to resuscitate a resident in a care home in 2017 has been struck off the nursing register.
Mrs Nahid Nasiri failed to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on an 89-year-old woman who stopped breathing at the Woodlands Nursing Home in Surrey. The woman, who had no Do Not Attempt CPR (DNACPR) in place, died on 6 August 2017.
Mrs Nasiri, who has been a registered nurse since 1992 in the UK, will be struck off after an NMC Fitness to Practise panel reviewed her case on 29 December last year.
An initial hearing in January 2020 had suspended Mrs Nasiri for 12 months after finding no evidence ‘of the careful, considered judgement expected in the guidance’. But they concluded a striking-off order would be ‘unduly punitive’ because of her positive references and previously spotless regulatory record.
However, the review of the decision that took place this month highlighted that Mrs Nasiri had not engaged with the NMC since August 2019 after retiring and moving aboard. She also had not ‘provided any evidence of insight or remorse or that she had remediated her misconduct’.
The review concluded ‘that the only sanction that would adequately protect the public and serve the public interest was a striking-off order’, adding that ‘considerable evidence would be required to show that Mrs Nasiri no longer posed a risk to the public’.
Mrs Nasiri will be struck off the register on 7 February, which is when her 12-month suspension order expires.
On 27 January 2020, NMC chief executive Andrea Sutcliffe published a blog in response to concerns raised about the Mrs Nasiri’s suspension.
Ms Sutcliffe said best practice guidance says that there’s a presumption in favour of commencing CPR when DNACPRs are in place, but added that professionals ‘can depart from this on the basis of careful, considered decision making’.
She continued: ‘The NMC panel did not find any evidence of the careful, considered judgment expected in the guidance when Mrs Nasiri failed to perform CPR. This is why the sanction of a 12-month suspension from the register was imposed.’
