An aged care nurse in New South Wales is at the centre of controversy with calls to revoke her registration after she allegedly traumatised a resident with dementia by bashing a therapy doll’s head against the table. The woman believed it was a real-life baby.
The nurse, Sudiksha Ahuja, was named by the Daily Mail Australia, who revealed she then attempted to cover up the “brutal baby-killing prank” by asking a colleague who witnessed the incident to lie about what she had seen.
They followed the correct protocols, however, with the incident being reported. The case made its way to the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal, which this week found the enrolled nurse guilty of ‘callous and deplorable’ professional misconduct.
Her registration has not been revoked yet, but Ms Ahuja will return to the Tribunal on October 14 at a follow-up hearing.
The cruel prank occurred in late 2021 when Ms Ahuja was working as an enrolled nurse at the Junee Multipurpose Service in NSW. It provides 24-hour accident and emergency support with 46 hospital beds alongside 30 residential aged care beds.
Doll Diversion Therapy is a common practice in aged care, providing residents with dementia with calming support.
“Doll Diversion Therapy is used to help those women reminisce about the time they were mothers, and this assists to calm them thinking that they are holding their baby and looking after them,” the Tribunal noted.
The Tribunal heard that one of the residents, an 82-year-old woman with advanced dementia, believed the dolls were real babies and she liked to dress them nicely and tuck them into bed each night.
Sadly, Ms Ahuja was seen “tormenting” the resident after being egged on by a colleague in the centre’s dining room.
“[The resident] loves to “take care” of the dolls in the dining room, as she believes they are babies and loves them,” the colleague noted in her report.
“The two staff were intentionally making [the patient] watch as they bashed the doll’s head against the table.
“They knew this would elicit a response from [the resident] who was clearly upset and distressed and asking them to stop repeatedly.
“I asked them to stop three times, while they continued to do it and laugh at [the resident’s] response.”
Another witness shared a similar statement, explaining that they saw Ms Ahuja grab “the doll around the back of the neck… then walked over to the table in the dining room, lifted the doll up and slammed it hard, face first on the table.”
The 82-year-old was allegedly so traumatised by the incident she began to cry and continued to visit the dining room throughout the night to make sure the babies were safe.
A total of six witnesses provided evidence against Ms Ahuja, who actually told the Tribunal they had all misread the situation.
She claimed her goal was to cheer up the resident as she tried to fix a broken doll that had been accidentally dropped.
The Tribunal did not accept this defence, proving there was enough evidence to show she had deliberately hit the doll against the table despite knowing how much residents loved them.
“[Ms Ahuja] did so knowing that [the resident] believed that the dolls were real babies and with the intention of eliciting a response,” the Tribunal said in its judgement.
“[She] engaged in this conduct for the purpose of amusing herself and [her colleague] at the patient’s expense.
“There is no doubt that [Ms Ahuja] and [her colleague] were laughing during the conduct they were embarking on. We do not accept that this laughing was to try and reassure [the resident] or lighten her mood, or cheer her up.
“She thought the situation was humorous and was laughing at the patient’s distress.”
Ms Ahuja’s guilt was further highlighted when she contacted her colleague on Snapchat in the hope of convincing her to lie about the incident.
The Tribunal found her guilty of both unsatisfactory professional conduct and professional misconduct.
The Tribunal will provide an appropriate sentence for Ms Ahuja in October. The Health Care Complaints Commission, which prosecuted the case, asked for her nursing registration to be cancelled and she be banned from providing a health service with a non-review period of between 6-12 months.
Currently, she is working in a Victorian home care service provider as a case manager after departing her role at Junee within two months of the incident occurring.
When contacted by Daily Mail, Ms Ahuja said, “’I haven’t had a chance to read the decision yet. I will do that later today if I have time. Please don’t call here again.”
I’m utterly appalled at the calculated and calluous behaviour shown to an elderly dementia resident. This is her home, those dolls arent merely dolls, they ARE her babies. If this is how nurses choose to amuse themselves because they are bored then they don’t have the right to be in any caring role nor allied field. She can clean the laundry, vaccuum wash the dishes, maybe serve or help heat up the meals but case management, aren’t you rewarding poor behaviour. What a joke. Lucky the poor victim isn’t my relative!
I fully agree, Case Manager , she is SO being rewarded. Why on earth is she allowed to be working anywhere, where vulnerable adults or children are involved. Disgraceful.
Ban for life is appropriate, as the behaviour tells you everything you need to know about this “nurse”.
A very lenient outcome with only 6 to 12 month non review ban. It diminishes the significance of caring for our elderly.
On the other hand, I applaud the ones who did the right thing and reported this incident.
Now the offender is working as a case manager presumably in a community or NDIS setting, it baffles me how she got away with obtaining any job providing care to another human being.
Regardless of her reason, it’s nothing to do with education but simply a lack of compassion and common sense full stop. It’s an evil act.
THIS IS APPALLING. THAT GRUB OF A NURSE NEEDS TO BE STRUCK OFF FOR THE REST OF HER LIFE…
NEVER TO BE ABLE TO WORK IN ANY MEDICAL INDUSTRY AGAIN.
LIFE BAND….IMMEDIATELY….
SHE WILL RE OFFEND OVER & OVER AGAIN LIKE MEGAN HAINES DID WHEN SHE WAS REINSTATED BY APRAH . MEGAN HAINES MURDERED MY BEAUTIFUL MOTHER & HER FRIEND IN THEIR AGED CARE FACILITY 10/05/2014. IN BALLINA NSW.
I CAN ONLY IMAGINE THIS POOR SOUL THINKING THIS PHYCO GRUB HAD KILLED HER BABY. ONLY A PHYCO WOULD DO THINGS LIKE THAT. GET HER OUT OF THE SYSTEM BEFORE SHE ACTUALLY MURDERS A REAL PERSON. SHE NEEDS A JAIL TERM FOR HER ACTIONS.
I HAVE BEEN TRAUMATISED FOR JUST OVER TEN YEARS SINCE MY MOTHERS MURDER BY MEGAN HAINES WHOM IS IN JAIL FOR 36 YRS. I WAS 56 yrs WHEN SHE TOOK MY MOTHER FROM ME IN THAT HEINOUS CRIME.
IMAGINE THIS POOR SOUL IN HER EIGHTIES WOULD BE GOING THRU SEEING HER BABY BASHED LIKE THAT. MY HEART BLEEDS FOR HER.
THIS DEAR SOUL MAY HAVE DEMENTIA HOWEVER THAT DOSENT MEAN SHE DONT HAVE A HEART.
This case tells us all we need to know about the various medical tribunals in Australia. Slow to act, and prioritise the Practitioners career over consumer safety.
A Life Ban from all care related employment, Aged Care, NDIS, Child Care, Health Care etc etc. is required in this case. To punish deliberate cruelty to a very vulnerable person, to discourage others from even thinking about doing the same and meeting the community expectation that our loved ones in care are safe from abuse.
The EN should lose her registration and be banned from aged care I worked in aged care for 20yrs and know these things happen often with dementia residents but usually there were witnesses who were afraid to speak out for fear of losing their job.
Karma will eventually catch up with her in the end, “What goes around, comes around”.
Absolutely no need for this type of outburst especially from an EN nurse. I wouldn’t want her near me. I hope the employer gets to see this and takes action. 🙏 Not happy Jan!