A nurse who stole food from patients and left a dying man while she went on a break has been removed from the nursing register.
Teresa Bacon took "cakes and puddings" from sick people and asked one patient to get her coffee, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) heard.
Bacon, who worked at the Royal Blackburn Hospital in Lancashire, was also said to have ignored one woman's request to change her dressings, before she told her: "Tears don't work for me."
A total of 17 allegations were proven after the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust first referred Bacon to the NMC in May 2020.
A nurse who stole food from patients and left a dying man while she went on a break has been removed from the nursing register
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Investigators heard evidence from two patients - a man called Patient A and a woman called Patient B.
On April, 28, 2019 Patient A began experiencing breathing difficulties but when a health care assistant (HCA) - Witness five - approached Bacon several times asking for help with the man, she "failed to respond in a timely manner".
When she did return to help, Bacon placed an oxygen mask on Patient A and left Witness five and another HCA to care for the man while she went on a break.
Bacon was called back from her break when Patient A stopped breathing and failed to explain the reason for the oxygen mask in care notes.
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Witness five also told investigators how Bacon "regularly" took food intended for patients, they said: "She would always have pockets full of food.
"I have seen her look for her keys in her pockets, and take out all the patient food she has stored in them before finding her key."
The NMC heard that Bacon would sometimes "act like she was helping" with trays of food for patients but it was so she could "access cakes off them".
Witness five added: "When I got around to giving bed sixteen their tray, their pudding had disappeared."
The same witness said she saw the nurse ask a patient to get her a Costa Coffee during a shift: "I did not witness any exchange of money. This is not how I expect a Registered Nurse to behave. This was very unprofessional."
Investigators heard evidence from two patients - a man called Patient A and a woman called Patient B
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Other complaints included that Bacon shouted at patients, did not give Patient B her medication and then falsely recorded that she had and she had "inappropriate" conversations with some male patients about her personal life.
The independent panel concluded Bacon was guilty of "serious failings" in the case of Patient A, and also failed to treat other patients with care and compassion.
A report by the NMC said: "The panel found Ms Bacon's actions deplorable, caused actual harm and the behaviour seriously undermined public confidence in the profession.
"The conduct, as highlighted by the facts found proved, was a significant departure from the standards expected of a registered nurse.
"The panel's findings evidenced a series of concerns that were not one off in nature. The panel found evidence of deep-seated attitudinal problems."
