GARDAI are trying to trace a woman who posed as a public health nurse and attempted to examine a young baby in the Leixlip area of Co Kildare.
The incident happened about 11 a.m. on Thursdays when the woman called to the house of a mother with a 21/2 month old infant. The caller gave the name of an existing public health nurse who did not work in the locality.
The mother became suspicious when the woman did not know the name, sex or age of the child, and refused to let her in. She then phoned the Eastern Health Board (EHB) who contacted gardai in Lucan.
The EHB believes the caller may have known the public health nurse whose name she gave. It has appealed to anyone visited by a public health nurse to ask for identification if they do not already know the nurse.
Gardai said the woman was approximately 40 years old, and 5 ft 7 ins in height. She was wearing a long, green bulky jacket with a hood and black slacks and carried a wine coloured, briefcase style handbag with a long strap.
A Garda spokesman said the description did not in any way match that of the nurse the woman posed as.
Last summer in the Dublin area there were a number of cases involving bogus nurses, including incidents in which a man and a woman called to houses in the Santry area of the city.