A Nigerian-born nurse in Australia has been struck off the professional register after repeatedly falling asleep on overnight shifts while responsible for frail, elderly residents. The case of Chimzuruoke Okembunachi has sparked a sharp debate about patient safety, burnout and how far regulators should go when a caregiver’s mistakes put vulnerable people at risk.
Her licence cancellation followed a series of night shifts in which she was found asleep, sometimes for hours, while patients missed pain medication and staff struggled to reach her. Regulators accepted that she was under heavy personal pressure, but still decided that the pattern of behaviour and her response to it left them with no choice but to end her nursing career in Australia.
How a quiet night shift turned into a career-ending case
The story really took shape in a small aged care facility where Chimzuruoke Okembunachi was rostered as the only registered nurse on duty. According to tribunal findings, she worked multiple night shifts over roughly two weeks, covering a home with about 100 elderly residents and supervising several assistants in nursing. On paper, it was a standard staffing model for overnight care, but in practice it meant that if she went offline, the entire clinical safety net for those residents disappeared.
Evidence presented to the tribunal showed that during this period she was repeatedly discovered asleep while still rostered on shift, sometimes with the nurses’ station lights off and her phone unreachable. Reports described her as a Nigerian-born nurse who had built a life in Australia, only to see her registration cancelled after these incidents. The pattern was not a single lapse but a series of nights in which colleagues had to wake her, residents missed care, and management eventually escalated the matter to regulators.
Six nights, one nurse, and a facility full of elderly residents
Regulators focused on six specific night shifts between mid and late March 2024, when Okembunachi was the sole registered nurse on duty. During those shifts she was responsible for clinical decisions affecting around 100 residents, including those needing regular pain relief and close monitoring. The tribunal later noted that she worked multiple night shifts between March 13 and March 27 in this role, a schedule that would test anyone’s stamina but that also demanded constant alertness.
On each of the six nights, evidence showed that she fell asleep while still rostered, leaving assistants in nursing to manage as best they could. In one account, an AIN tried to rouse her by switching on the nurses’ station light, only for her to turn it off and go back to sleep. The tribunal highlighted that she had been working nights at the facility for at least nine months, which meant she was not new to the demands of the roster or the expectations of the role.
The four-hour-and-24-minute sleep that changed everything
Among the six shifts, one stood out as the clearest example of how far things had gone wrong. During a night that ran from March 21 to March 22, evidence showed that Okembunachi slept for 4 hours and 24 minutes while still on duty. She was meant to be the clinical lead for the entire facility, yet for nearly a third of the shift she was effectively unavailable. Staff described trying to wake her and struggling to get timely decisions for residents who needed medication or assessment.
Tribunal documents recorded that an AIN turned on the nurses’ station light to wake her, but she turned it off and went back to sleep, a detail that later became central to the panel’s view of her insight into the risk she was creating. Reports of the case noted that she had effectively lost her licence in Australia after that 4-hour-and-24-minute block of sleep became a symbol of the wider pattern. For the tribunal, it was not just that she nodded off, it was that she stayed asleep despite clear attempts to bring her back to duty.
Missed morphine doses and the human cost of a sleeping nurse
The most serious fallout from those nights was not about rosters or workplace rules, it was about residents in pain who did not get the relief they had been prescribed. The tribunal found that on three of the six occasions, patients missed their scheduled morphine doses because the nurse responsible for administering them was asleep. Morphine is not a casual medication, it is used for significant pain and often for people at the end of life, so any delay or omission can have a direct impact on comfort and dignity.
In one incident, evidence showed that during the March 21 to 22 shift, a resident who was due morphine did not receive it on time because staff could not wake Okembunachi to authorise or administer the dose. Another account described an assistant in nursing being told to “just give it to him” without proper oversight, a phrase that later appeared in tribunal summaries as an example of unsafe practice. Reports on the case stressed that the panel noted these missed morphine doses as key evidence that patient safety had been compromised, not just theoretically but in the lived experience of residents who went without pain relief.
“Too many stressors in my life”: her explanation to the tribunal
When the case reached the professional standards tribunal, Okembunachi did not deny that she had slept on duty. Instead, she tried to explain why it had happened. She told the panel that she had “too many stressors” in her life at the time, describing pressures that went beyond the workplace and left her exhausted. She argued that the combination of personal strain and demanding night shifts had pushed her to a breaking point, and that her lapses were the result of being overwhelmed rather than indifferent.
The tribunal acknowledged that she was dealing with significant stress, but it still had to weigh that against the duty she owed to residents and the expectations of a registered nurse. In its written reasons, the panel accepted that she had been under pressure but concluded that her behaviour, including the repeated sleeping and the way she responded when confronted, showed a lack of insight into the risk she posed. Coverage of the hearing quoted her phrase about having too many stressors, but also noted that the panel ultimately saw patient safety as non-negotiable, regardless of her personal circumstances.
From suspension to deregistration: how regulators responded
Once the facility realised the scale of the problem, management moved quickly to take her off the roster. She was initially suspended from duty after the pattern of sleeping on shift became clear, and she later resigned from her position rather than return to work. That internal process, however, was only the start. The matter was referred to the national regulator, which opened a formal investigation into her fitness to practise as a nurse.
Australia’s nursing regulator eventually decided to cancel her licence, a step that effectively deregistered her and barred her from practising as a nurse in the country. Reports described how a professional tribunal heard evidence about her six nights of sleeping on duty, the missed morphine doses and her responses when colleagues tried to wake her. One account noted that she had been suspended and subsequently before the regulator moved to strike her off, underscoring that the disciplinary process continued even after she left the job.
Why the tribunal said cancellation was the only option
In its decision, the tribunal made it clear that it did not see this as a one-off mistake that could be fixed with a warning or extra training. It pointed to the repeated nature of the sleeping incidents, the length of time she was unavailable on some nights and the direct impact on residents who missed medication. The panel also highlighted that she had been working in the facility for at least nine months, so she understood the layout, the expectations and the vulnerability of the people in her care.
The tribunal noted that while it accepted she was under stress, it was troubled by what it saw as limited insight into the seriousness of her conduct. It referred to evidence that she had turned off the nurses’ station light and gone back to sleep after being woken, and that she had not fully engaged with internal disciplinary meetings. One report on the case explained that the panel concluded she had been asleep while rostered on shift on multiple occasions, and that this pattern meant there was a real risk she could repeat the behaviour if allowed to keep practising.
A Nigerian-born nurse in an Australian system under pressure
Okembunachi’s background as a Nigerian-born nurse working in Australia has added another layer to the public reaction. Many internationally trained nurses move to countries like Australia to fill gaps in aged care and hospital staffing, often taking on night shifts and roles that local staff are reluctant to cover. In this case, she had become part of that workforce, caring for elderly residents in a system that relies heavily on migrant professionals to keep facilities running overnight.
Reports on the case consistently identified her as a Nigerian nurse who had lost her licence in Australia after the tribunal’s decision. Another account described her as a Nigerian-born nurse who had been deregistered after the regulator’s action, noting that she had been suspended for a month and later resigned. In that telling, she was part of a broader story about migrant health workers carrying heavy loads in aged care, sometimes with limited support, and facing harsh consequences when things go wrong.
What this case says about night-shift nursing and patient safety
Beyond the individual drama, the case has become a cautionary tale about what can happen when a single nurse is left to carry the clinical responsibility for an entire facility overnight. Night shifts are notoriously tough, with fewer staff, quieter corridors and a constant battle against fatigue. When one person is the only registered nurse for about 100 residents, as Okembunachi was, the margin for error is razor thin. If that person falls asleep, the safety net effectively disappears.
At the same time, the decision to cancel her licence sends a blunt message about how regulators view sleeping on duty in such settings. The tribunal’s reasoning made clear that patient safety comes first, even when a nurse is dealing with heavy personal stress or systemic pressures. Coverage of the decision noted that a Nigerian-born nurse, Chimzuruoke Okembunachi, had been deregistered after repeatedly sleeping during night shifts, even though the tribunal accepted that she had been under significant strain. For nurses working similar rosters, the message is stark: if you cannot stay awake and available, the system will not bend the rules to accommodate you.
Inside the aged care facility: one RN, several AINs, and 100 residents
The workplace context matters here, because it shows how much hinged on one person staying alert. Okembunachi was rostered as the only registered nurse on duty, supported by assistants in nursing who handled much of the hands-on care but relied on her for clinical decisions and medication administration. The facility housed about 100 elderly residents, many with complex needs, chronic pain and conditions that could deteriorate quickly without prompt attention.
Reports on the case described how she was effectively the clinical anchor for the entire building during those nights, supervising several AINs and overseeing residents’ medication charts. One account highlighted that a single nurse was responsible for about 100 elderly residents, a ratio that left little room for fatigue or distraction. When she slept for hours, the assistants were left without the authority to give certain medications or make key calls, which is how residents ended up missing morphine and why the tribunal saw the risk as so serious.
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