The key issue
What is the appropriate disciplinary sanction for practitioners found to have significantly breached patient trust?
The background
The case relates to an enrolled nurse (the respondent) who used a nurses-only key to access a patient’s wallet from a locked bedside drawer and use the key card to withdraw funds totalling $14,395.
The respondent was charged with an offence under s 192E(1)(b)of the Crimes Act 1900 (Cth) of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception, but the charge was ultimately withdrawn.
The respondent was also found to have given false and misleading information to the Council by stating that she had only taken $110 from the patient and had no knowledge of the other amounts.
The respondent submitted that, at the time, she was suffering physical, emotional and financial abuse and was sleeping in her car with no support. She submitted that she did not intend to work in nursing anymore.
The respondent conceded that she had taken advantage of the patient’s kindness after he had offered her financial assistance and had intended to pay him back after a property settlement.
The respondent failed to notify Ahpra or the Board of the criminal charge.
The tribunal concluded that the respondent ‘took advantage of an elderly patient who had multiple health issues, who was vulnerable to exploitation due to delusions of poverty and impaired decision making ability, and who was, to her knowledge, not in a position to be able to enter into financial agreements’.
The outcome
The tribunal found the respondent guilty of professional misconduct and unsatisfactory professional conduct, cancelled her registration, disqualified her from applying for registration as a nurse for 3 years and prohibited her from providing a number of health services until such time as she is registered as an enrolled nurse.
Implication
The case confirms the strong view taken by tribunals in relation to breaches of trust with vulnerable patients and providing false and misleading information to regulatory authorities.
The decision in Health Care Complaints Commission v Shipley [2020] NSWCATOD 128 can be read here.
