An "unapologetic" nurse who reportedly said she was "too old to do CPR" on a dying patient has been suspended from the profession.

Maria Kasmai, who was 62 at the time, failed to perform the potentially life-saving treatment on a man almost half her age.

A tribunal held by the Nursing and Midwifery Council heard that Ms Kasmai "failed in her duty" to 35-year-old Jake Lee when he suffered a collapse at Oak Court -  a care home in Taverham which specialises in neurological conditions.

The incident happened after Mr Lee was discharged from hospital into the home for rehabilitation having suffered a stroke.

While he was at the home he collapsed and became "blue in colour with no signs of life".

But Ms Kasmai, who was the only registered nurse on duty at the time, left Mr Lee with an "unqualified" health care assistant while she went to call 999 and did not attempt to resuscitate him.

The panel was also told the nurse, who had 38 years of experience, did not place Mr Lee in the recovery position and was unaware of a device to deflate his bed to allow CPR to be carried out - despite having worked there for four years.

It was also alleged that she did not carry out any checks of his vital signs - including failing to do a sweep of his mouth to make sure his airways were not blocked by his tongue.

And a paramedic who attended the incident claimed they had heard Ms Kasmai say "I am 62-years-of-age, I cannot do CPR anymore".

A representative for Ms Kasmai denied that she ever said she was too old, dismissing it as "unfounded gossip". However, the panel dismissed the denial.

The panel ruled the nurse had "not recognised her failings and continued to deny that she was at fault".

The report reads: "This was a serious departure from the standard expected of a registered nurse.

"She had a duty to remain in the room and carry our CPR and manage the incident and to provide a handover to the responding paramedic - all of which she failed to do.

"Her remark 'I am 62 years of age, I cannot do CPR anymore', was deeply insensitive."

In an email to the panel, a representative for Ms Kasmai, said: "Maria was working with a carer who had insufficient knowledge of the English language to make an effective emergency call.

"After balancing the risk, she decided that it would be less risky to leave the patient with the carer for a couple of minutes to make a call to the emergency services.

"This took less than two minutes during which the patient was still breathing, but in some degree of discomfort."

However, the owner of the home at the time said the health care assistant was "a native English speaker" with "no issues with verbal communication".

Ms Kasmai's suspension comes almost three years after the incident, on June 29, 2019, although in the aftermath of Mr Lee's death, she was investigated by Select Health Care and later sacked.

Mr Lee died of a pulmonary embolism having suffered a stroke in his spinal cord.

Finding Ms Kasmai guilty of misconduct, the tribunal report reads: "Ms Kasmai's actions did fall seriously short of the conduct and standards expected of a nurse."

In a report to prevent future deaths, Norfolk area coroner Yvonne Blake said that it would have been unlikely CPR would have saved Mr Lee.

She wrote: "In this instance, any intervention by [Ms Kasmai] is unlikely to have been successful but I believe that if any other emergencies occur whilst she is on duty the same situation will occur and another patient may have a collapse which is reversible."