Some 20 nurses faced criminal court proceedings over allegations of negligence or malpractice over the past eight years, MUMN president Paul Pace said his morning.

He was speaking during a conference organised by the union about medico-legal nursing and midwifery.

Mr Pace called on nurses to be aware of the legal implications of their words and actions in a society where suing was becoming more common. Many nurses, he said, were, unlike doctors, still unaware of this reality that could shatter their lives and had a false sense of security.

As he stressed on prevention, he said that it was often the sense of comfort of nurses that got them into trouble. They spoke freely ignoring patients' presence while the patient was picking up everything they said and could use it against them.

here were also problems with social media with nurses not drawing the line with patients. There were also cases of cyber-bullying where nurses were harassed by patients.

He urged nurses not to go beyond their job description even if this was for the benefit of a patient.

Antoinette Saliba, chairwoman of the education committee said there was a lack of clear policies on various matters to ensure that procedures to be used were clear.