Case Summary | Unregistered Nurse convicted of practising before being registered

by | Jun 2, 2022 | Health Blog

Ms Pichinte Solis was convicted of holding herself out as a registered nurse and using the title 'RN' in the course of her employment while being unregistered. The court ordered Ms Pichinte Solis to serve a 12-month Community Corrections Order, and a seven-month imprisonment sentence which was to be served as a community based intensive Corrections Order. She was fined more than $6,000 and ordered to pay the Board's costs.

Facts

In September 2019, Ms Pichinte Solis worked 10 shifts at a residential aged care facility as a registered nurse, despite unsuccessfully applying on multiple occasions and having not met the requirements for registration. Her employment was terminated by the employer on discovering that she was unregistered.

Ms Pichinte Solis was not deterred, going on to complete a further 157 shifts as a nurse within the Graduate Nurse Program at a private hospital in Sydney between October 2019 and October 2020. Her employment was again terminated when her employer became aware of her registration status.

In 2021 Ms Pichinte Solis was able to meet the requirements for registration and was added to the National Register of Practitioners.

In December 2021 Ms Pichinte Solis was charged with two counts of holding herself out to be a registered nurse while unregistered and three counts of using the protected title ‘RN’ in the course of her employment to give the impression she was a registered nursed, in contravention of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law 2010 (National Law).

Outcome

Ms Pichinte Solis pleaded guilty to all charges in March 2022.

She was fined $3,300 and sentenced to a 12-month Community Corrections Order in relation to the 10 shifts worked at the residential aged care facility during September 2019.

As to the 157 shifts worked at the private hospital in Sydney, the Court imposed a seven-month sentence of imprisonment, however, ordered that Ms Pichinte Solis serve this as an Intensive Corrections Order in the community. Further, Ms Pichinte Solis was fined $1,100 for each of the three counts of using the title ‘RN’.

The Court noted that “no penalty other than imprisonment is appropriate”, the Magistrate commenting that the sentence imposed was reflective of Ms Pichinte Solis’ conduct in that she was dealing with “the most vulnerable people in aged care” and that this was not a “technical breach”. It was clear that Ms Pichinte Solis had “showed disregard for regulation laws”.

In addition, Ms Pichinte Solis was ordered to pay the Board’s costs of $6,529.60

Takeaway

There are numerous titles which are protected under the National Law which have requirements that must be met before they may be used. Health practitioners should be familiar with these restrictions and requirements to avoid inadvertently using a protected title in a way that may be open to interpretation or may possibly be misleading.

To read a summary of the decision by Ahpra please click here.

 

Scarlette De Lavaine

Scarlette De Lavaine