A young nurse has been removed from the professional register following allegations of misconduct, which included repeatedly falling asleep during night shifts at a nursing facility.
Chimzuruoke Okembunachi, aged 25, began her role as a registered nurse at Hardi Aged Care (HAC) located in Guildford, in Sydney’s western region, in February 2024.
However, just a month into her employment, she faced suspension and subsequently resigned from her position.
On Tuesday, the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal ruled that Ms. Okembunachi was guilty of professional misconduct, leading to the revocation of her nursing registration.
The tribunal detailed that Ms. Okembunachi was scheduled to work night shifts from March 13 to March 27, 2024, during which she was reportedly the sole registered nurse overseeing a team of three to four assistants-in-nursing (AIN) and responsible for the care of 100 elderly residents.
On each shift, the panel noted that Ms Okembunachi was the only registered nurse supervising three or four assistants-in-nursing (AIN) and 100 elderly residents.
But, on six of these nights, she failed to discharge her duties and responsibilities as she slept while on duty.
The tribunal heard that on three occasions, the practitioner failed to give a patient her regular dose of morphine because she was asleep.
Chimzuruoke Okembunachi (pictured) has had her registration as a nurse cancelled
She was found guilty of professional misconduct by a tribunal after sleeping during night shifts at Hardi Aged Care (HAC) in March 2024
The tribunal heard Ms Okembunachi failed to carry out her duties on six nights as she was asleep, often in the nurses’ station
During her fifth night shift from March 21 to 22, Ms Okembunachi was awoken by an AIN who turned on the light in the nurses’ station, the tribunal heard.
But, a minute later, the practitioner turned the light back off.
The tribunal also heard that the practitioner told an AIN to give a male patient Panadol on March 15 to help get rid of his foot pain, despite the assistant not being authorised to administer the medication.
The assistant reportedly asked Ms Okembunachi: ‘Are you sure? We are not allowed to provide medication directly.’
The nurse’s reply, the tribunal noted, was ‘It’s okay sister, just give it to him.’
Ms Okembunachi was then reported to her bosses by two nurses on March 27, and was informed via email the next day that her employment had been suspended and requested a meeting.
Twenty minutes after she received the email, Ms Okembunachi tendered her resignation and declined to attend the meeting.
After a complaint to the Health Care Complaints Commission, which brought the tribunal case against the practitioner, her registration as a nurse was suspended.
The Nigerian-born practitioner was working at the aged care facility while studying medicine
Ms Okembunachi told the tribunal she accepted it was her responsibility to give medication to residents while working the night shifts
Born in Nigeria, Ms Okembunachi moved to Australia in 2018 and graduated with a Bachelor of Nursing Science at University of the Sunshine Coast in 2021.
She then embarked on a graduate degree in medicine at Western Sydney University, (WSU) which she balanced with her work at HAC while suffering from migraines.
During her second degree, Ms Okembunachi had to take a leave of absence after failing the mid-year anatomy exam. She then returned to her studies in 2024.
Early that year, the tribunal heard that her younger sister required an expensive surgery for a scoliosis condition, which cost their father about $60,000.
‘These events caused me significant stress and influenced my decision to cease agency work in favour of more permanent employment,’ Ms Okembunachi told 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.’
Ms Okembunachi also told the tribunal that she accepted it was her responsibility to give medication to residents.
The tribunal panel said Ms Okembunachi’s actions ‘had the potential to endanger the lives of patients under her care’
‘When I slept on night shift, I failed in supervising those staff members and the residents,’ she told the hearing.
She has not worked as a nurse since her suspension but is still studying for a medicine degree.
Her father has been supporting her financially and, since February 2025, she has also been receiving a Centrelink Student Allowance, the tribunal noted.
During the hearing, Ms Okembunachi said she hoped to return to nursing and, if allowed to keep working, would not do night shifts while studying at university.
However, the tribunal panel made an order to cancel Ms Okembunachi’s nursing registration on Tuesday.
‘The acts of the practitioner had the potential to endanger the lives of patients under her care,’ the findings read.
‘In our view, any order short of deregistration would be an inadequate response to the seriousness of the practitioner’s misconduct.’
But the panel did note that Ms Okembunachi had been ‘clearly remorseful and contrite… and conspicuously honest in her evidence’.
She cannot apply for review of the cancellation order for at least nine months.
Daily Mail has contacted Ms Okembunachi for comment.
