A nurse alleged to have given the wrong medication to a nursing home patient has lost her High Court challenge to a decision of An Bord Altranais to strike her name off the register of nurses.
Mr Justice Diarmaid O'Donovan said he was satisfied that the evidence he had heard with regard to Gloria Perez's incompetency as a nurse was "a compelling reason for her dismissal".
He also awarded costs of the proceedings against Ms Perez, who is from the Philippines.
He was giving his reserved judgment on a challenge by Ms Perez (48) to a decision by the fitness to practise committee of An Bord Altranais that she was guilty of misconduct.
Her employment with Craddock House Nursing Home and Care Centre, Naas, Co Kildare, was terminated from September 1st, 2003.
The judge confirmed the committee's decision to have Gloria Perez's name erased from the register of nurses.
He said he was persuaded by the sworn testimony of five State-registered nurses that the conduct of Ms Perez at the Naas nursing home between November 2002 and August 2003 "not only fell short of the standard of conduct expected among nurses, but did not accord with the code of professional conduct".
In the light of the testimony of three of the nurse witnesses, the judge said he was persuaded beyond any doubt that on April 14th, 2003, Ms Perez not only gave medication to the wrong resident but also denied having made the mistake before ultimately admitting it.
He had no doubt the committee was quite entitled to conclude that, by giving medication to the wrong person and placing dirty swabs on a patient's breakfast tray, Ms Perez's professional conduct fell seriously short of the standard of conduct expected of nurses.
He also said he was not persuaded that Ms Perez had been victimised.
He said Ms Perez was subjected to a considerable amount of supervision when carrying out nursing duties and this was "reasonable and justified" given the criticisms which he had heard of her competency as a nurse.
An Bord Altranais had found that between December 16th, 2002, and the end of August 2003, when she was a staff nurse employed at the Craddock nursing home, the professional conduct of Ms Perez had fallen seriously short of the required standard of professional conduct.