A nurse who took a €100 loan from a disabled patient in Letterkenny is facing a nursing board inquiry over allegations of misconduct.
Mary Grace Dela Cruz Alegarme from the Philippines allegedly took €100 as a loan from a resident of the Cheshire Ireland Home in Letterkenny.
The events occurred in March and April 2013, when it emerged that a patient had given the loan to Ms Alegarme, who repaid the money in the following days.
The resident, Patient A, is a man in his 50s with progressive multiple sclerosis and is wholly dependent on others.
The patient alerted his HSE key worker to the loan and said he had the understanding that it was for a friend of Ms Alegarme’s. He was told that Ms Alegarme had a joint account with her husband but did not want him to know about the loan.
Ms Alegarme lost her job as a result of the incident and a complaint was made by Cheshire Ireland to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland.
Ms Alegarme’s representative said she admitted the allegations are professional misconduct and poor professional performance. She qualified as a nurse in 1999 and was working part-time at the Cheshire Ireland centre.
The inquiry in Dublin today heard that Ms Alegarme was a competent nurse who was held in high regard in her profession. Her representative from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation said she had significant remorse over the alleged incident. She knew it was a serious error but maintained it was a one-off mistake.
Ms Alegarme currently works at Letterkenny University Hospital.
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