Nurse who assaulted a colleague during a night shift at a nursing home faces a fitness to practice inquiry

19th February 2022

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A male nurse who assaulted a colleague during a night shift at a nursing home faces a fitness to practice inquiry.

Ado Mazombe was convicted of assaulting a female colleague following a disagreement between the pair at Oaklodge Nursing Home, in Churchtown South, Co Cork, on May 8, 2016.

Mr Mazombe was subsequently convicted of the assault at Midleton District Court and ordered 200 hours of community service.

He faces a Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI) fitness to practice inquiry owing to the incident and to another whereby he is alleged to have manhandled an elderly man in around February or March 2016.

Mr Mazombe is accused of professional misconduct, poor professional performance, non-compliance with the code of conduct and a conviction in the state for an offence triable on indictment.

The three allegations faced by Mr Ado Mazombe include that he, in February or March 2016, while employed in Oaklodge nursing home, Churchtown, Co Cork, roughly handled a resident, Mr A, when moving him to his bedroom.

The second allegation was that on or about May 8, 2016, while employed at Oaklodge, struck a health care assistant on one or more occasions, causing her injury.

The third allegation relates to his conviction on April 5, 2017, of the assault on his colleague.

The NMBI committee heard evidence Mr Mazombe had previously raised with management around difficulties working with the colleague he subsequently assaulted.

On the night of the assault, Mr Mazombe, a registrant, was preparing medication for the residents when he was disturbed by the health care assistant who asked for his help with a patient.

A row developed, and Ms Mazombe pushed the health care worker, causing her to fall.

Both an ambulance and the gardaí were called to attend the incident.

Mr Noel Mendinueto, a qualified physiotherapist who was working as a health care assistant at the time in Oaklodge, witnessed the assault.

He described seeing Mr Mazombe giving medicine to residents at around 10 pm when he was approached by his female colleague, who asked for his help in another area of the home.

Mr Mendinueto noticed their voices became raised, and he heard “a few bad words.”

He said: “And then suddenly I saw Ado punch her on the shoulder, and it started the fight.”

Mr Mendinueto said he and other health care workers witnessed this and rushed and tried to separate them.

He described seeing the victim slump to the wall after being punched by Mr Ado, who was “really mad” and had “lost his mind.”

“We tried to calm him down and asked him to go out.”

Mr Mendinueto said the victim of the assault was shocked following the incident and was treated by another nurse on duty.

“She fainted at first. She was on the floor. The nurse took her blood pressure.

“Someone called the guards. There was an ambulance that took her to hospital.”

The hearing heard from Sergeant Paul McGarry, who attended Oaklodge on the night.

He said Mr Mazombe was cooperative, made full admissions and was remorseful.

In another incident, Mr Mazombe is accused of manhandling an elderly man, referred to as Mr A, in and around February or March 2016.

The health care worker told the inquiry she has an ongoing difficulty recalling dates and times with clarity. She, therefore, couldn’t say for sure the date of the alleged incident.

“I have a fault in that I have no concept of time; it’s an unusual problem to have. I can’t distinguish last month, last week, last year.”

But the witness was able to recount the alleged incident in detail.

She recalled Mr A coming getting out of bed, and leaving his room on a number of occasions during the night.

She described him as agitated and looking for a cigarette.

“He was wondering why he was here and what he was doing here.

“If he were given the opportunity to calm down nicely, he would have.

“He came out of his room a few times aggressively but not physical but raising his voice and shouting.

“Then I saw the nurse (Mr Mazombe) come up behind him, caught his hand and twisted it up behind his back and what I call it frogmarched him right into his room and locked the door.

“He pushed a table up against the door, so Mr A had no chance to open the door after that.”

The health care worker raised the issue with a colleague the following morning and later with the Director of Nursing.

When asked about her ability to recall the incident given her issues with time, she said: “I saw it happening. I will never get it out of my head.”

The inquiry is ongoing.