Nurse who allegedly slept on the job faces misconduct claims

A nurse who is alleged to have routinely slept during her night shifts at an elderly care home in Co Westmeath is facing accusations of misconduct and poor professional performance.

A Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland fitness to practise inquiry heard claims that Eileen Mary Mulligan Kiernan would regularly sleep for one to three hours, between 2am and 5am, at the Maple Court Nursing Home in Castlepollard.

It is alleged that, during this time, she would insist the lights in the staff room be turned off, the refrigerator unplugged and that no laundry be done. It is also claimed she would sometimes insist a care assistant stay with her in the staff room, which meant nobody was available to the residents.

Ms Mulligan Kiernan allegedly failed to provide adequate care to the 21 elderly residents, the majority of whom were at least 80 years old. This includes an alleged failure to help residents to the toilet, or to assist residents who suffered from incontinence. It is also alleged that she would complete some of her night time notes prior to 2am.

The alleged failures happened between March 2011 and December 2012. She worked at the nursing home from October 2002 until July 2013.The inquiry heard that Ms Mulligan Kiernan, who was not present, denies the allegations.

Whistleblowers

In May 2013, two care assistants at the nursing home completed whistleblower forms in relation to Ms Mulligan Kiernan, and gave them to their manager Caroline Day, who then made a complaint to the nursing board.

Asked whether night staff were allowed to sleep during their shifts, Ms Day replied: “When you’re doing night duty, you don’t sleep on night duty for a variety of reason. Residents need to be cared for.

“It’s unacceptable to sleep during night duty, and it’s actually a form of abuse’ because it constitutes neglect,” she said.

In a written response regarding the complaint to the nursing board, Ms Mulligan Kiernan said she loved her job and was a caring person whom the residents loved. She wrote that she had an eye problem that required drops, and she needed to close her eyes for a few minutes after she applied the drops, but that she was fully alert during that time.

In another written response, Ms Mulligan Kiernan said, “by no stretch of the imagination are these allegations true.”

The inquiry was told that in telephone correspondence with the board’s legal team, Ms Mulligan Kiernan mentioned that “the whole thing was a conspiracy”.