Eithne Donnellan outlines the options of An
The circumstances surrounding the recent suspension of a nurse at Naas General Hospital will be discussed at a special meeting of An Bord Altranais next week.
The nurse was suspended after allegations were made against her in relation to the amount of medication she gave to three patients at the hospital. Two of the patients are dead.
An Bord Altranais, which regulates the nursing profession, has the power to go to the High Court to have the name of the nurse immediately suspended from the national nursing register if it believes it would be in the public interest to do so.
Section 44 of the Nurses Act, 1985, makes provision for such an application, but the nursing board would invite the nurse to make representations to it before it would take this step.
Whether the nursing board moves in this direction next week is likely to be decided at its special board meeting. However, the allegations against the suspended nurse are still just allegations. But they are now also the subject of a major Garda investigation.
The deputy chief executive officer of An Bord Altranais, Ms Deirdre Hogan, confirmed yesterday that the allegations levelled against the nurse had been reported to it by the South Western Area Health Board, one of the three area health boards which replaced the former Eastern Health Board when it was dissolved three years ago.
That board covers Co Kildare and parts of Wicklow and west Dublin.
"This matter was referred to An Bord Altranais. It is under consideration and will be considered at a board meeting.
" A special board meeting will be held next week," she said.
Explaining how the nursing board polices the nursing profession, Ms Hogan said it had a 15-member fitness-to-practise committee, which would investigate complaints against nurses made in writing to it.
The two grounds on which complaints may be made include an allegation of professional misconduct or of unfitness to practise on grounds of physical or mental disability.
The chairwoman of the board's fitness-to-practise committee is Ms Anna Plunkett, director of nursing at St Mary's, a St John of God's-run home in Drumcar, Co Louth.
Ms Hogan said that, in general, the fitness-to-practise committee would first decide if there was a prima facie case against a nurse complained of and would decide if the complaint warranted the holding of an inquiry.
Following an inquiry, the committee prepares a report for consideration by the nursing board.
This includes the committee's findings in relation to the allegations and may make recommendations to the board in respect of sanctions.
The board, which has 29 members, then considers the report and decides if any sanction should be imposed.
The board may decide to suspend a nurse's registration for a fixed period, to attach conditions to the retention of a nurse's name on its register or it may decide to erase the name of the nurse from its register.
Nurses cannot practise without registration.
If any of these sanctions are imposed they must be confirmed by the High Court, and the decision may be appealed by the nurse to the High Court.
In addition or as an alternative, the board may decide to just "admonish, advise or censure" a nurse by letter, which would not affect their ability to practise.
Ms Hogan said that between 20 and 30 cases would come to the attention of the board's fitness-to-practise committee every year.
The board's latest annual report indicates 19 applications for inquiries into the fitness to practise of nurses were considered by the committee in 2001.
It held seven inquiries, and five nurses were found guilty of professional misconduct, one was found unfit to practise by reason of physical or mental disability and the facts were not proven in another case.
In one case the nurse's name was erased from the register, in three cases conditions were attached to the nurses' registration and in two cases the nurses were sent letters of censure or admonition.
The Fitness to Practise Inquiries for nurses, as for doctors, are held in private and evidence is heard under oath.
'