A nurse who began a relationship with a mental health patient has saved her career after telling medical chiefs: "It was love at first sight."

Lynn Hamilton, 43, emerged beaming from a disciplinary hearing which could easily have led to her being struck off.

Miss Hamilton, who lives in Brighton, was suspended from her job as co-ordinator of a rehabilitation centre when she told bosses of the affair in February 2002.

She escaped with an official caution yesterday after appearing before the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

It means she can return to practice, although details of the case will stay on record for five years.

The panel was told Miss Hamilton met the man, referred to as Patient A, in October 2001 while he was being treated at Rosslyn House, the rehabilitation hostel she founded in Hailsham.

She said: "I felt a very powerful attraction to him, something I really had not felt before with anybody. It was a very powerful thing for me."

The patient had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act and his care was monitored by the Home Office at Ashen Hill, a high-security psychiatric unit nearby.

He made frequent visits to the centre throughout November. Miss Hamilton and the man, who now lives in Eastbourne, went on dates to the cinema and swimming pool. She informed her managers of the affair when colleagues became suspicious.

Maggie Dunn, defending Miss Hamilton, said: "In December 2001 they admitted to each other they had fallen in love.

"In January the next year they saw each other whenever they could but this was rarely in private as other staff and patients were in the vicinity."

Miss Hamilton, a former lifeguard, admitted the relationship was wrong but told the hearing it was "love at first sight".

She said: "I do still have a relationship with Patient A, a very loving, supportive and intimate relationship.

"Even though we are very close we do not live together at the moment because I am a single parent with an 11-year-old daughter and my first priority is to her."

Andrew Griffin, for the NMC, said: "It is the responsibility of a nurse to maintain appropriate boundaries between themselves and patients.

"By forming a relationship with a vulnerable patient in her care, the respondent abused her position of privilege and breached trust.

"Such actions damage the reputation of the profession."

Miss Hamilton, who qualified in 1991, claimed there was a lack of supervision and she had nobody in the department with whom to discuss her romantic dilemma.

She said: "This has been one of the most traumatic and painful experiences of my life.

"You can't control how you feel but I can now control how I behave.

"If the situation arises again I would make sure to remove myself from the situation. Also, I love him and I don't anticipate falling in love with somebody again."

Miss Hamilton, who now works for Ambition Nursing Agency in a women's unit, admitted a single charge of having an inappropriate relationship with a patient.

The committee agreed her actions amount to misconduct.

Chairwoman Olive Evans said: "Forming a relationship with a patient is never acceptable.

"The evidence demonstrates you failed to maintain a professional boundary between yourself and Patient A and this had a significant impact on carrying out your duties as a nurse."

But she added: "The committee has decided your name should not be removed from the register.

"You admitted it was wrong and your judgement was impaired and you stated that in hindsight you would have acted differently. We are satisfied you fully recognise the seriousness of your conduct and the error of judgement into which you fell.

"You should appreciate that it is a very serious matter to be found guilty of misconduct and you must understand the committee does not condone or excuse your actions in any way."

Ms Dunn, Miss Hamilton's union representative, said outside the hearing: "Miss Hamilton is absolutely delighted at the outcome of the hearing and she recognises it is appropriate that she has received a caution. She is only pleased she is now going to be able to continue to do all she has ever wanted to do - be a nurse."

Miss Hamilton wept as Ms Dunn told reporters the couple now planned to marry.