A Romanian nurse who blamed her lack of English for failing to tell her new employers she was suspended has been handed a nine-month ban.
Mariana Birsasteanu worked at the Manor Care Home in Aylestone, Leicester between April 8 and September 30 last year.
She was referred to the Nursing and Midwifery Council in June 2013 for allegedly making prescribing mistakes in her previous job in a different care home.
Birsasteanu received a letter on July 5 telling her she was subject to an interim order and barred from practising until her case was heard by an NMC panel.
Instead of telling her employers at the Manor Care Home, she carried on practising until she was caught out when an investigator made a call to the home.
She also lied to the NMC by writing 'N/A' when asked whether she was asking as a nurse on a Personal Contact Employment form sent on July 2.
Birsasteanu, who was not represented, admitted she had worked shifts while suspended, but claimed that she had not read the letter sent to her on July 5 because she has difficulty understanding written English.
She maintained she had not seen the line which read 'This means your NMC pin is suspended for 18 months from 3 July 2013'.
But during cross-examination she admitted she was aware she was suspended and hadn't told her employers because she was 'so ashamed'.
She added that her lies were 'not really dishonest'.
The nurse said she hadn't told anyone about the letter, not even her family, and that she needed to carry on working because she was facing financial difficulties.
Birsasteanu, who practised as a nurse for 20 years in Romania before moving to the UK, said she thought her employer would make checks as to whether she was allowed to practise as a nurse.
She added that she had never even seen the NMC's Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics guide, let alone read it.
She admitted writing 'N/A' on her form to the NMC when asked about her current employment, but claimed she had been told to do so by a solicitor and didn't really know what the abbreviation meant.
But panel chairman John Weedon pointed out that she had managed to fill out the rest of the form without any difficulty.
She admitted working while suspended, failing to tell her employers she was suspended and lying to the NMC by saying she was not employed.
Birsasteanu said she had been placed in a difficult position, as she had wanted to ensure that you paid your bills and to be an 'honest citizen in the UK'.
She added that she was 'deeply sorry' for her actions.
The NMC panel found Birsasteanu had placed patients at unwarranted risk of harm through her behaviour, and handed her a nine-month suspension order.
Mr Wheedon said: 'Although the misconduct involved dishonesty, we were impressed by the fact that you appeared before the panel, demonstrated remorse and a realisation that your conduct was dishonest and undertook that it would not happen again.
'Despite the seriousness of your misconduct, it is not incompatible with you remaining on the register.'
Birsasteanu, who is currently working in a factory on the minimum wage, has 28 days to appeal the decision.