A vulnerable pensioner living at a north-east care home began wetting her bed following a nurse’s “disgusting” behaviour towards her, a hearing has been told.
Clarisa Bartolome is accused of assaulting the woman, who suffered from Parkinson’s Disease, and playing lewd jokes on her while working at Crimond House Care Home, Fraserburgh.
It is alleged the nurse also threw jelly babies at her – while also placing banana’s in her bed in case she got “lonely through the night”.
Ms Bartolome appeared for the first day of her hearing in front of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) in Edinburgh yesterday – where a panel heard claims that she laughed off the banana incident as “just a bit of fun”.
It is alleged she carried out the acts with another worker, who has not been identified.
Care worker Rosemary Cowe told the panel she witnessed four separate occasions in 2013 when bananas were placed on the woman’s bed, even though she was not physically capable of moving them.
She said: “I was on night shift work when I saw what happened to the resident and I totally thought it was inappropriate behaviour.”
Ms Bartolome is alleged to have told the resident: “Here’s a banana to keep you company”.
She is also accused of saying: “They are there for you if you get lonely through the night.”
Ms Cowe claimed the nurses said “it was just a bit of fun” and laughed as they placed the fruit in the bed.
But she said she thought Ms Bartolome’s alleged behaviour was “disgusting”.
Nancy Stuart, who was a senior care worker at the home, also said she had seen Ms Bartolome place a banana in the woman’s bed, lifting up the sheets in order to do so.
She said: “After she gave her her medication she leaned over and put the banana in the bed.
“I asked why she had done that, because it seemed like a very strange thing to do, and she said it was a private joke between her and the resident.
“It’s something that shouldn’t have really happened – it was very strange to me.”
On another occasion, Ms Cowe claimed the nurses started “giggling and chucking sweets” at the resident, despite her asking them to stop.
The witness said the alleged incidents had “a serious set of effects” on their patient – who has since died – in that she began to wet the bed.
She said the woman also feared the night shift when the nurses were at work.
Ms Bartolome – who qualified as a nurse in the Philippines before joining Scotland’s register in 2006 – denies all three charges against her.
She is also accused of assaulting the woman by “grabbing her arm and/or shaking her”.
The alleged incidents happened between 2010 and 2013. The hearing continues.