OMG

London(ZimEye)-A UK nurse is being tried for allegedly using a cloth contaminated with faeces on the wound of an elderly patientwho had just come out of a deep operation.

A hearing was told Mrs Tazviedza Margaret Dozva among other charges, used a cloth contaminated with faeces to wipe down a post operative wound of the elderly patient cited as Patient A.

Charges against state that she allegedly wiped Patient A’s

Mrs Dozva who has denied the charge however accepted that she did use the same cloth.

Prior to the incident with Patient A, Mrs Dozva had been on a six month performance plan in May 2007 for not following infection control policy. Following the incident involving Patient A, Mrs Dozva was put on a three month performance plan. During that time, two more incidents took place, which raised concerns regarding her ability to practise safely.

On 25 June 2010, Mrs Dozva was involved in a drug administration error. She recorded that she had administered Clexane to Patient B, who was not one of her patients. When this was queried by another nurse, Mrs Dozva stated that she had not administered that medication to the patient. It subsequently became clear that Mrs Dozva had, in fact, administered the Clexane to Patient WA but had recorded administering it to Patient B. Both patients were prescribed Clexane. However, the error placed Patient B at risk of not receiving the medication and Patient WA at risk of receiving a double dose. Clexane is an anticoagulant medication given to minimise the risk of deep vein thrombosis. Following this incident and with immediate effect, Mrs Dozva was suspended from administering medication.

On 5 July 2010, Mrs Dozva and Ms Rachel Grummett, Healthcare Assistant were washing Patient C, an elderly patient who had undergone hip surgery on 4 July 2010. Ms Grummett reported that Mrs Dozva had washed Patient C’s back and bottom with the same cloth and then used that same cloth to wipe down a wound, which was oozing. Ms Grummett described the cloth to Ms Teall as being “contaminated with faeces”.(ZimEye, Zimbabwe)