A NURSE from Notts has been struck off for assaulting a three-year-old.
Maria Waterhouse admitted assaulting the child in her home on Friday, February 3 last year.
She was working as a general nurse at the Eton Park Care Home in Cotgrave at the time of the offence.
Her case was recently heard by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). During the hearing it was revealed that she had been arrested in a local shop after her husband called the police following the assault.
A report of the council hearing reads as follows: "Mrs Waterhouse admitted assaulting Child A and also to be drunk, having drunk at least two bottles of wine that evening.
"She stated that she had problems with excess alcohol consumption in the past and that alcohol made her aggressive.
"She could not remember assaulting Child A because of the amount of alcohol she had drunk but she accepted that she had committed the assault."
She was arrested and taken to Bridewell custody suite, where she was given a police caution for the offence.
The NMC heard that Mrs Waterhouse later admitted that she had at times problems relating to alcohol consumption and had sought help in the past.
Following the assault, Mrs Waterhouse was referred to the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) and placed on the "children's barred list" and the "adults barred list" – meaning she was unable to work at Eton Park Care Home and was subsequently dismissed.
The panel concluded that: "Mrs Waterhouse's actions had brought the reputation of the profession into disrepute and that she had breached a fundamental tenet of the profession in that she harmed a child in her care."
The NMC imposed a striking-off order earlier this year, and Mrs Waterhouse did not appeal the decision.