Hull Royal Infirmary: 'Shovelling food' nurse struck off
A nurse who left a nil-by-mouth patient coughing and spluttering after feeding her pureed food has been struck off.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) also found Valentin Cristian Sbranca had continued to feed the patient despite her reaction.
In another incident he "shovelled food" into the mouth of a male patient so fast he could not swallow.
The nurse, who worked at Hull Royal Infirmary, was struck off following a NMC fitness to practise hearing.
He has 28 days to appeal against the decision.
The NMC panel found that in August 2015 the nurse fed pureed food to a female patient he knew was nil-by-mouth, leaving her "coughing and spluttering with food sitting in her mouth".
Mr Sbranca had denied this account and claimed it was a lie.
On another occasion in 2015 the panel agreed that he had "shovelled food" into the mouth of a male patient at such speed he had "no chance to swallow".
He was told by a colleague the patient was limited to 10 teaspoons of food per meal, to which he reacted: "Don't treat me like an idiot".
It was also proved Mr Sbranca had muttered expletives under his breath on more than one occasion and swore at staff in the occupational health department.
Other incidents included shaking a patient to wake him for breakfast and attempting to forcibly restrain a patient with dementia, despite requests from a colleague to stop.
Mr Sbranca, who denied all the charges against him, worked at the hospital from February 2015 until his dismissal in March 2016.