A dishonest paediatric nurse has been struck off after causing “undue emotional harm” to a mother and putting a baby in serious risk of suffocation.

Taiyelolu Gabriel-Olufemi, who worked at Queen’s Hospital, Rom Valley Way, Romford, between March 2012 and August 2014, was found guilty of seven incompetence charges and three misconduct charges at a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) hearing last Friday.

She was also found to have been dishonest on several occasions, failing to tell the agency that employed her after she left Queen’s Hospital that she was being investigated by the NMC.

Members of the panel concluded Gabriel-Olufemi’s actions while at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust – which runs Queen’s Hospital – caused harm to vulnerable patients and placed others at risk of harm.

The charges proven in the hearing included leaving an apron in a baby’s cot which presented a risk of suffocation and letting a second baby get so hot that it “significantly affected his breathing” as she did not know how to operate equipment correctly.

The panel also heard that she acted inappropriately to a mother telling her “do you want to distress your baby by crying because that’s what you’re doing”.

It was not the first time Gabriel-Olufemi had been hauled before officials for poor practise.

In 2011, while working at Newham General Hospital, Plaistow, the nurse was found guilty of failing to resuscitate a seven-year-old boy when his heart stopped.

As a result she was temporarily banned from working on high-dependancy paediatric wards.

While at Queen’s Hospital concerns about her competency were raised and she was placed on a development plan to improve her performance.

After Friday’s hearing the NMC determined there was a risk to the public should Gabriel-Olufemi continue to work as a registered nurse.

When deciding her fate, the panel acknowledged that she had shown remorse but felt she failed to “understand the seriousness of the incidents that had occurred”.

Gabriel-Olufemi has 28 days to appeal the decision.

Should she not appeal, the nurse will not be able to apply for restoration until five years after the date this decision takes effect.