Up to 40 complaints a year are made against nurses

UP to 40 complaints ranging from allegations of verbal, physical or sexual abuse of patients and substance abuse by nurses are made to An Bord Altranais each year.

“They arise when there is an allegation that client care has been breached or where there is an incompetency and when someone is engaged in unprofessional conduct,” said Deirdre Hogan, deputy chief executive of An Bord Altranais, the nursing regulatory body.

The main body of complaints of unfitness to practice by reason of physical or mental disability were linked to substance abuse, she said.