Nurse Deregistered After Sleeping on Duty During Critical Night Shifts
A young registered nurse has faced the ultimate professional sanction after a tribunal found her guilty of serious misconduct for repeatedly falling asleep during night shifts at an aged care facility in western Sydney. Chimzuruoke Okembunachi, aged 25, has had her nursing registration cancelled following a hearing at the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
Repeated Failures in Patient Care
The tribunal heard that Ms Okembunachi was employed at Hardi Aged Care in Guildford from February 2024, working night shifts between 13 and 27 March. During this period, she was the sole registered nurse responsible for supervising three or four nursing assistants and approximately 100 elderly residents.
Alarmingly, on six separate nights, Ms Okembunachi was found to have fallen asleep while on duty, neglecting her critical responsibilities. The tribunal detailed specific instances where her sleeping directly compromised patient welfare, including three occasions where she failed to administer scheduled morphine doses to a resident because she was asleep.
Unauthorised Medication Instructions
Further evidence presented to the tribunal revealed additional concerning behaviour. On 15 March, Ms Okembunachi instructed a nursing assistant to administer Panadol to a male patient for foot pain, despite the assistant not being authorised to give medication. When questioned about this directive, the nurse reportedly responded, 'It's okay sister, just give it to him.'
Another incident occurred during her shift from 21 to 22 March, when a nursing assistant entered the nurses' station and turned on the light to wake Ms Okembunachi. The tribunal heard that just one minute later, the nurse turned the light back off.
Swift Suspension and Resignation
The matter came to light when two colleagues reported Ms Okembunachi to management on 27 March. The following day, she received an email informing her that her employment had been suspended and requesting a meeting. Within twenty minutes of receiving this notification, Ms Okembunachi tendered her resignation and declined to attend the scheduled meeting.
Following a complaint to the Health Care Complaints Commission, her nursing registration was suspended, leading to the tribunal proceedings that ultimately resulted in her deregistration.
Personal Circumstances and Remorse
The tribunal heard about significant personal challenges Ms Okembunachi was facing during this period. Originally from Nigeria, she moved to Australia in 2018 and graduated with a Bachelor of Nursing Science in 2021. She was simultaneously studying medicine at Western Sydney University while working at the aged care facility.
Ms Okembunachi told the tribunal she was experiencing migraines and had taken a leave of absence from her medical studies after failing an anatomy exam. Additionally, her younger sister required expensive surgery for scoliosis, costing their father approximately $60,000, creating considerable financial and emotional stress.
'These events caused me significant stress and influenced my decision to cease agency work in favour of more permanent employment,' Ms Okembunachi explained to the tribunal. 'In hindsight, I should have not applied for, or accepted, the position at Hardi. I should have recognised that I had a lot of stressors going on in my life, family, health and school, and so working night shifts during the week was putting patients' safety at risk.'
Tribunal's Final Determination
Despite acknowledging Ms Okembunachi's remorse and honesty during proceedings, the tribunal panel determined that her actions warranted the most severe penalty. 'The acts of the practitioner had the potential to endanger the lives of patients under her care,' the findings stated. 'In our view, any order short of deregistration would be an inadequate response to the seriousness of the practitioner’s misconduct.'
The panel did note that Ms Okembunachi had been 'clearly remorseful and contrite... and conspicuously honest in her evidence,' and that she accepted responsibility for her failures, acknowledging that 'When I slept on night shift, I failed in supervising those staff members and the residents.'
Ms Okembunachi, who has not worked as a nurse since her suspension but continues her medical studies with financial support from her father and Centrelink, expressed hope to return to nursing in future. She told the tribunal she would avoid night shifts while studying if permitted to continue practising.
However, the tribunal ordered the cancellation of her nursing registration, with a stipulation that she cannot apply for review of this decision for at least nine months. The case highlights the critical importance of vigilance in aged care settings, particularly during night shifts when staffing levels are often reduced.
