A nurse has admitted at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that she should have immediately reported her colleague to her superiors after she saw her use excessive force to inject an unprescribed drug to a patient.
Sharon Baxter agreed in cross-examination with Giollaíosa Ó Lideadha SC, defending, that it was her duty to report her concerns.
She had not yet been disciplined by An Bord Altranais, but expected to hear after the trial.
Ms Baxter also agreed with Mr Ó Lideadha that her colleague, Noreen Mulholland, who is on trial for assaulting elderly patients, should not have been working unsupervised due to lack of training and alleged "problems".
She said if Ms Mulholland had previously been dismissed from another hospital due to inexperience and lack of knowledge, she should not have been working as a night-duty nurse.
Ms Mulholland (35), Portadown, Co Armagh, previously of Runabeg Close, Kildare, has pleaded not guilty to four charges in relation to two elderly patients at Naas General Hospital in 2003.
Ms Mulholland denies assault causing harm to John Gethings (77), Baltinglass, Co Wicklow, and to intentionally or recklessly administering a substance to him knowing it was capable of interfering substantially with his bodily functions without his consent on March 1st, 2003.
Ms Mulholland also denied assaulting Séamus Doherty (80), causing him harm and intentionally or recklessly administering a substance to him knowing it was capable of interfering substantially with his bodily functions without his consent in June, 2003.
Orla Crowe, prosecuting, has told the jury Mr Gethings died on March 2nd, 2003, but it was not the State's case that Ms Mulholland was responsible for his death.
Ms Baxter did not accept a suggestion from Mr Ó Lideadha that she accompanied Ms Mulholland to the treatment room and filled out Mr Gethings's prescription chart while her colleague drew Serenase, a sedative, into a syringe to give the patient.
She did not know that Ms Mulholland had not completed her year-long contract with Blackrock hospital. Ms Mulholland was dismissed after a senior found her lacking in experience.
Ms Baxter replied that she was not aware that Blackrock hospital superiors said it would not have been happy to allow Ms Mulholland to work night duty, that it was concerned about her attending patients without supervision, that she did not have a significant knowledge of pain relief drugs and that she had poor attention to detail.
"She shouldn't have been on duty if she had all those problems," Ms Baxter acknowledged. "She should have been on a mentor programme or a training programme."
She could not answer a further suggestion from Mr Ó Lideadha that if she had known about these criticisms on March 1st, 2003, her "take" on what happened that night would have been different.
"I can't answer that question. All I can say is if those criticisms are true she should not have been working at all."
Dr Joan Power, a clinical physician, told Ms Crowe that on February 23rd, 2003, she prescribed Serenase in tablet form for Mr Gethings. She described it as an anti-psychotic drug that when prescribed in very small doses, could help agitated elderly patients settle at night and allow them to sleep. She wrote on Mr Gethings's chart that the drug was to be taken once at night if he was having a sleepless night.
The trial continues before Judge Frank O'Donnell and a jury.