A nurse will face a disciplinary panel accused of mistaking a teddy bear for a baby.

Violet Ruto, previously a nurse at Oakhurst Grange Nursing Home, Crawley, will face a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) hearing on March 24.

She is accused of misconduct.

The charges date from December 2010 when it is alleged she started a shift “under the influence of alcohol”.

On a different occasion she is accused of being “unable to put on a plastic apron correctly”.

She is also accused of – on the same day – being “unstable” and “disorientated”.

She is also accused of “[asking] a resident if they were holding a baby when in fact it was a teddy bear.”

On New Year’s Eve, 2010, she was allegedly asleep in a room in the home.