A NURSE who sat in a corridor and cried instead of helping an unresponsive patient will not lose her right to practice, a committee decided.

Velichka Prospolova was a nurse at Glenside Hospital in South Newton, which provides different levels of care to patients with an acquired brain injury, at the time of the incident.

A hearing held by the Nursing and Midwifery Council Fitness to Practice Committee in London determined that Mrs Prospolova had failed to assist with a patient’s care and failed to comply with a reasonable request from a colleague to assist a patient on February 25, 2017.

A staff nurse working alongside Mrs Prospolova, known as Colleague A, said the incident occurred during handover between the day and night shift, when the pair found a patient who was at high risk of stroke unresponsive in their bed.

The nurse said she asked Mrs Prospolova to push the emergency call bell, but she did not do so or take part in immediate checks of the patient, and instead left the room. Colleague A also asked Mrs Prospolova to go to the front of the hospital to wait for an ambulance, but had to do so herself.

At a later disciplinary meeting, Mrs Prospolova, whose registered address is in Bulgaria, said she was “not well” and “not in the right way” during the incident, and this led to her sitting outside and crying rather than assisting with the care of a patient.

She also said in an email to the committee: “I just felt suddenly unwell. I am not guilty. I know what should make in this situation, but I felt very unwell and no chance to do [sic]. I just pressed emergency alarm and my colleagues came immediately to help.”

The report added: “[The senior member of staff] did not have concerns regarding Mrs Prospolova’s nursing knowledge, but was concerned about her reaction to the situation. He told the panel that it is expected that nurses would act appropriately by intervening without any hesitation.”

The panel found her guilty of misconduct and imposed an 18-month condition to practice order.