Assistants tell inquiry nurse regularly slept on the job

Three care assistants at an elderly home yesterday told a disciplinary inquiry that a nurse with whom they worked would regularly sleep on the job.

One of the care assistants said she did not raise the alarm about this behaviour because she was afraid of the nurse, while another told the Nursing Board inquiry of threats from the nurse.

It is claimed 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.