A nurse gave a terminally-ill patient the wrong medication - then claimed racist abuse from her patients had left her flustered.

Surinder Grewal, 52, also chatted on the phone while a care assistant asked for help with an aggressive patient, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) heard.

Ms Grewal, from Darlington, was cautioned by the panel at the end of the hearing in central London, after it also heard she breached hospital rules by asking another care assistant to give medication to a violent patient.

The incidents happened on a single day on ward 15 at the Friarage Hospital, Northallerton, North Yorkshire.

David Glenndining, for the NMC, said Ms Grewal was employed by the hospital initially as a care assistant, before becoming a registered nurse in October 2001. But problems with her ability meant she was not able to administer medicine until a drugs assessment at the end of June 2002.

On October 30, student nurse Victoria Lumley was helping Ms Grewal administer Amoxicillin to a terminally ill woman, referred to as Patient A.

But Mrs Lumley noticed the drug had been stopped on October 26, and informed Ms Grewal.

Mr Glendinning said: "She was surprised at her reaction as she became panicked and very upset, and said words similar to 'Oh God you don't know, you don't know'."

"When asked if she had been upset that day, she said that racist comments had been directed at her."

On the same day, care assistant Ms Grewal failed to help when a patient threatened a colleague.

Ms Grewal then breached hospital policy by allowing a care assistant to take medication to an 18-year-old woman, who was violent and aggressive towards staff and kept in a self-contained "de-escalation suit".

Ms Grewal was brought before an internal disciplinary hearing on December 17, 2002.

"When asked what she had learned from these experiences, the respondent replied that it was not to trust anybody, particularly students and health care assistants," said Mr Glendinning.

Ms Grewal was sacked, but appealed against the decision and was reinstated on a final warning. She was given further retraining and supervision.

However, she then resigned and a second disciplinary hearing was held.

"The outcome of that hearing was that, had she not resigned, she would have been dismissed due to serious concerns about her competence and her inability to achieve the objectives agreed at the start of her period of supervised practise," said Mr Glendinning.

Ms Grewal told the panel she struggled because she wasn't used to working with "disrespectful and aggressive patients". She said she was experiencing racist abuse from patients.