A NURSE in a Burnham care home has been suspended after being found guilty of misconduct at a hearing last month.

The Nurse and Midwifery Council (NMC) suspended Venetsiya Miteva, 58, for six months after hearing allegations of her force-feeding elderly residents, putting medication into residents’ drinks without telling them and attempting to force a resident to go to the toilet at the Burnham Lodge Nursing Home in May last year.

Vigilant colleagues raised the alarm by reporting Mrs Miteva’s behaviour and four gave evidence against her as she faced nine counts of misconduct.

The home says it has an excellent reputation for standards of care and dismissed Mrs Miteva in May last year.

The hearing took place on October 21.

Mrs Miteva did not attend and declined representation.

One witness told how Mrs Miteva held an elderly resident by the chin and forced medication into her mouth.

The nurse also was seen forcing the same resident into a chair and tying her dressing gown cord in a rough manner.

The witness explained that she was shocked, having never experienced anything like it before and had to call upon another staff member to intervene.

Another witness told how the nurse attempted to place medication in the same resident’s drink without her knowledge.

The nurse was also reportedly seen causing distress to another resident by feeding her too quickly without giving her the chance to swallow.

Mrs Miteva was reported to management at the care home by other members of staff and immediately suspended while an internal investigation was carried out.

Following the investigation, the several instances of Mrs Miteva’s conduct were referred to the NMC.

The council found Mrs Miteva guilty of eight counts of misconduct and handed down a six month suspension order.

A further allegation was unproven, the council found. The NMC panel decided a striking-off order would be disproportionate, saying that Mrs Miteva’s misconduct occurred in one week of her nursing career and there were no other complaints or ref-errals to a regulatory body.

A spokesperson for Burnham Lodge Residential Home said: “Normal procedures prior to Mrs Miteva’s employment, including obtaining references and a CRB check, were all positive and did not reveal any concerns.

“Our ever-vigilant staff raised concerns regarding her conduct that did not meet our high standards of nursing care and this resulted in our manager suspending her on May 3, 2013, while we carried out a full investigation.

“Following this investigation we referred the findings to the NMC and the Care Quality Commission and Venetsiya Miteva was formally dismissed on May 20 2013.

We have an excellent reputation for our nursing care and we acted swiftly once concerns were raised to protect all our residents.”