Nurse manager who failed to call ambulance for patient suspended from register for nine months

High Court Reporter

A clinical nurse manager who failed to call an ambulance for a dementia patient who drank cleaning fluid has been suspended from the nurse’s register for nine months by the president of the High Court.

Ann Marie Ryan, a registered psychiatric nurse, with an address at Milford, Co Donegal, is to remain suspended until she has successfully completed three courses, including dealing with emergencies, ethics and leadership in nursing.

High Court president Judge David Barniville, confirming the decision of The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland following an inquiry by the fitness to practice committee, said there was no good reason why it should not be confirmed.

The judge noted that Ryan, in an email to solicitors for The Nursing and Midwifery Board in November last year, had indicated she was not seeking to reregister as a nurse in 2026, and she claimed the facts were incorrect.

The inquiry by the Fitness to Practise Committee found that two allegations were proven against Ryan, and it amounted to poor professional performance and non-compliance with a code of professional conduct.

They relate to an incident at a psychiatric unit in the east of the country where at the time in March 2021, Ryan was a clinical nurse manager and the nurse in charge.

The allegations include that after being notified by a staff nurse of a medical emergency in relation to the patient who had ingested a cleaning fluid, Ryan failed to act in a timely manner, did not call an ambulance and instructed nursing staff who were monitoring the patient not to call an ambulance.

The second allegation, which was found to be proven, was that Ryan had instructed a staff nurse to continue giving the patient water and observe her despite the fact that the staff nurse had advised that the patient needed to be taken to hospital.

The inquiry was held over three days in February last year. Evidence was heard that a doctor who happened to be on site at the unit was asked by Ryan to attend to the woman, and he advised an ambulance be called.

A nurse gave evidence that an ambulance was called but the patient died days later in hospital.

Ryan, who is now a director of education, training and professional development at a major psychiatric hospital in Dubai, chose not to attend the inquiry.