A NURSE told a conduct hearing yesterday, she was "totally horrified" after giving an elderly patient a fatal dose of insulin.

Joanne Evans appeared before a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) hearing in Cardiff and said she was stressed and exhausted by her day-to-day job at the time she gave 85-year-old Margaret Thomas ten times the insulin she needed on June 2, 2007.

The Pontypool pensioner died six hours after Ms Evans used a normal syringe instead of a specialist insulin one and made an error converting the measurements.

The NMC panel decided earlier this week decided her actions amounted to misconduct and impairs her fitness to practice.

Giving evidence, Ms Evans, said: "I am totally horrified this accident happened. I was exhausted and I did listen to the patient too much, she desperately wanted to go out that afternoon and I desperately wanted to help her. I honestly cannot explain why I did it"

The panel heard Ms Evans was having issues with a patient who behaved inappropriately towards her, her sleep pattern was disrupted due to a neighbour playing loud music and the nursing team she was part of was short staffed.

"In hindsight I don't think I was fit to carry on at all with work," she told the panel.

Ms Evans was suspended by Gwent NHS Healthcare Trust for two years from the time of the incident.

She was later made subject to several conditions by the NMC and returned to work on a fragile elderly people's ward at a local hospital.

It was there, whilst having problems measuring out an antibiotic she decided to have a break from nursing, and was given a data processing role.

Representing Ms Evans, James Townsend, described her actions as "an error by a good practitioner under extreme circumstances of pressure".

The panel is expected to make a decision on what sanctions to impose on Ms Evans today.