After punching a patient, age 16, during a night shift, a mental health nurse was dismissed from her position.
In 2019, a hearing was told that Donald Riziva assaulted the boy under his care at the Victoria Gardens Hospital in Huyton.
His behavior was described as "unprofessional, violent conduct" by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), which violated his duty of care.
Mr. Riziva, a resident of Bootle, excused himself from the hearing but claimed that the case had left him with "trauma and after-effects.".
He wrote to the panel in advance of the four-day hearing: "I feel like I've done my part working as a mental health nurse.
"It has been a full three years since I left the profession, and after thinking back on the events leading up to my suspension, I feel safer both physically and mentally and so I apologise. ".
The boy required three-to-one nursing, had complex mental health needs, including violent tendencies, and was being cared for by Mr. Riziva, who was employed by an agency and was first registered in 2008.
He admitted to failing to properly apply de-escalation techniques when the patient displayed challenging behavior.
In an email to the panel, he acknowledged that the incident had taken place and stated: "With the circumstances at the time, after having been headbutted and stabbed in the eye, I felt my life was in extreme danger. As the events happened in a flash of a second, I acted in the heat of the moment trying to free myself from the situation. ".
The panel concluded that Mr. Riziva gave a plausible account and provided photographic proof of an injury he sustained. The panel also considered that Mr. Riziva may have responded under duress or fear.
Additionally, they determined that the patient's possession of and use of a pen as a weapon were more likely than not.
The teenager headbutted Mr. Riziva, according to a witness statement from the former lead nurse at the specialized rehabilitation facility, after the nurse put his hand on him to help him exit an office.
According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr. Riziva punched the teenager three times and threw two roundhouse blows at him, according to the nurse's testimony.
The safety and wellbeing of our patients are our top priorities, and we will always take steps to ensure that this is maintained, according to a spokesperson for Elysium Healthcare, the company that runs the hospital.
"We hold our colleagues in positions of trust who care for the weak to the highest standards and demand nothing less from them.
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