Inquiry told nurse slept on job while at elderly care home

A nurse who allegedly slept on the job while working at an elderly care home was yesterday the subject of a disciplinary inquiry.

It is claimed that nurse Eileen Mary (Mulligan) Kiernan, while working night shifts at the Maple Court Nursing Home in Castlepollard, Co Westmeath, would routinely sleep for one to three hours, between 2am and 5am.

It is alleged that, during this time, she would insist that the lights in the staff room were turned off, the refrigerator unplugged and that no laundry be done.

It is also claimed that Ms Mulligan Kiernan would sometimes insist that a care assistant stay with her in the staff room during these periods, which meant that no staff were present with the residents.

As a result of these alleged resting periods, Nurse Mulligan Kiernan allegedly failed to provide adequate care to the 21 elderly residents, the majority of whom were at least 80 years of age.

These alleged failures took place between March 2011 and December 2012. Ms Mulligan Kiernan worked at the Maple Court nursing home from October 2002 until July 2013.

It is claimed that these allegations amount to Professional Misconduct and Poor Professional Performance.

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

Caroline Day yesterday gave evidence to the inquiry. Asked whether night staff were allowed to sleep during their shifts, Ms Day said: “When you’re doing night duty, you don’t sleep on night duty for a variety of reasons. Residents need to be cared for.”

The inquiry yesterday heard that Ms Mulligan Kiernan, who was not present at the proceedings, denies the allegations.

The Fitness to Practice inquiry, which continues today is being held at the Nursing and Midwifery Board headquarters.