BC nurse swipes narcotics and falsifies records, again

A BC nurse with a history of swiping narcotics from work has again been caught pilfering drugs and suspended for one week.

According to a Nov. 5 BC College of Nurses and Midwives decision, the unnamed licenced practical nurse then falsifying medical records to cover that they'd taken the drugs.

"The falsification of the medical record left the impression that patients were requiring more… as needed… narcotic medication than what was actually administered, a practice that potentially could have resulted in patient harm," the decision said.

The nurse signed a consent agreement admitting to their behaviour which took place from December 2022 to February 2023.

The nursing regulator said the licenced practical nurse has a history of swiping narcotics for their personal use and was previously disciplined for doing so. Details of when the nurse was previously caught taking narcotics from work aren't given, or what penalty they received.

In this case the College suspended the nurse's licence for one week and they will now have to comply with a treatment plan.

Along with the suspension, they will be monitored for three years and are restricted from handling narcotics.

They have also been barred from working night shifts, being the nurse in charge, or supervising students for six months, as well as being banned from working overtime for one year.

So far this year, a handful of nurses have been reprimanded for swiping narcotics from work. One nurse refilled the boxes with over-the-counter drugs.

In 2023, 11 nurses were disciplined for the same conduct with penalties ranging from having conditions placed on their licence to a three year suspension for a nurse who had been doing it for seven years.

The College said it is satisfied that the terms will protect the public.

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