Chimzuruoke Okembunachi, a Nigerian-born nurse, had her nursing licence revoked in Australia after a tribunal discovered that she frequently slept off during her night shift at an assisted living facility, putting senior citizens at grave risk.

Okembunachi's registration as a nurse was revoked on January 20 after the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal determined that her actions constituted professional misconduct.

Okembunachi began working at the Hardi Aged Care facility in Guildford, western Sydney, in February 2024. The occurrences occurred there in March 2024.

The then-25-year-old was often the only registered nurse working night shifts between March 13 and March 27, overseeing three to four assistants-in-nursing and looking after roughly 100 residents, according to information revealed during tribunal proceedings.

There was proof that she dozed off while on duty at least six times, failing to carry out her duties. As a result, residents failed to take their morphine tablets as directed three times.

In one instance, during the evening of March 21–22, an assistant turned on the light at the nurses' station to wake her, but she apparently quickly shut it off and fell back asleep.

On March 15, she allegedly directed an assistant-in-nursing, who was not authorised to administer medication, to give Panadol to a patient, saying, “It’s okay, sister, just give it to him.”

Her conduct was reported by two nurses on March 27. The next day, she received an email informing her of her suspension and inviting her to a meeting. About 20 minutes later, she resigned and declined to attend the meeting.

Born in Nigeria, Okembunachi migrated to Australia in 2018. She completed a Bachelor of Nursing Science in 2021 and, at the time of the incidents, was studying medicine at Western Sydney University while employed at the aged care facility.

In her tribunal testimony, she admitted fault and expressed remorse, acknowledging the stress the experience caused her and that she should not have taken the role.

"Looking back, I shouldn't have applied for or taken the job at Hardi," she remarked. "Working night shifts during the week was endangering the safety of patients."

"I failed in supervising those staff members and the residents when I slept on the night shift," she also acknowledged.

Despite her apparent regret and remorse, the tribunal decided that she needed to be deregistered since her conduct "had the potential to endanger the lives of patients under her care."

The ruling prohibits Okembunachi from requesting a review for a minimum of nine months. With the help of her father and Australia's Centrelink Student Allowance, she is continuing her medical education instead of going back to being a nurse.