Lucy Letby told a colleague on her first day of employment at the Countess of Chester Hospital that she “couldn’t wait for my first death”, the public inquiry over her crimes has been told.

The Thirlwall Inquiry heard the remark was made in January 2012, more than three years before she began her year-long attack spree in which she murdered seven babies and attempted to murder seven others at the neonatal unit.

Nurse ZC, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said she was “taken aback” and was similarly surprised when later in early 2012 Letby became “quite animated” when she described how she was involved in resuscitation attempts of a baby who had unexpectedly deteriorated overnight.

She told the inquiry on Monday, October 14: “She made a comment along the lines of ‘I can’t wait for my first death to get it out of the way’. It took me aback because for me the thought of having to experience that was not something you actively want to happen.”

Nurse ZC said she thought at the time that Letby was trying to make conversation on her first day of work and did not believe it was said with “sinister intent”.

She recalled another exchange in early 2012 over a baby who was being prepared for discharge from the unit.

She said: “I came in the the next day and not long after I had been there Lucy sort of presented as quite animated and told me everything that had happened to the baby and that she was involved in resuscitation attempts.

“It was something that took me by surprise because obviously the baby had been so well.”

Nurse ZC said Letby was “kind of excited” but she thought at the time that it may have been the “adrenaline” of the experience and that she needed to offload.

She said: “It was not as if she seemed upset or that it had traumatised her in any way.”

Nurse ZC said she also noticed Letby’s “overfamiliarity” with the family of a baby that she cared for during a work placement at Liverpool Women’s Hospital as she went into detailed discussions about them on her return to the Countess of Chester.

She said, on reflection, the discussions “didn’t sit right”.

Earlier, Nurse W, who also cannot be identified for legal reasons, told the inquiry that Letby “couldn’t wait to tell me” about the overnight death of a baby boy when she arrived for a day shift in August 2015.

She told the hearing: “When I had left only 12 hours previously the baby was clinically well. I should have been allowed to come into work and receive the handover with the rest of the support team but I was bombarded with that information within a minute of walking into the unit.

“I didn’t think it was appropriate at all. It was unprofessional.”

A review by Cheshire Constabulary of the care of some 4,000 babies admitted to the Countess of Chester while Letby was working as a neonatal nurse from January 2012 to the end of June 2016 remains ongoing.

Police are also investigating Letby’s work placements at Liverpool Women’s Hospital between October and December 2012, and January and February 2015.

Letby, 34, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted at Manchester Crown Court of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others, with two attempts on one of her victims, between June 2015 and June 2016.

The inquiry is expected to sit until early 2025, with findings published by late autumn of that year.