BC nurse caught stealing narcotics from work

Another BC nurse has been caught pilfering narcotics from work.

According to a Nov. 6 BC College of Nurses and Midwives decision, the unnamed registered nurse swiped the narcotics from work for their own personal use.

The nurse admitted to taking the drugs and has now undergone intensive treatment.

The nurse will now be monitored for the next three years.

The decision says the nurse was diverting the narcotics for one year throughout 2024. There’s no information in the decision about how the nurse was caught or how they managed to get away with it for so long.

“The (BC College of Nurses and Midwives) recognizes that nurses and midwives, like any member of the public, may grapple with health issues that may impact their ability to practice safely, competently, and ethically,” the regulator says in the decision. “(The) BC College of Nurses and Midwives expects that registrants will work only when they are fit to do so and will remove themselves from practise when they are unwell.”

The decision says the nurse agreed to undergo formalized medical monitoring to demonstrate abstinence from substance abuse.

“And to return to nursing practice with limits on their ability to access and/or handle narcotics, and associated medications, while engaging with their employer’s disability office as they continue on their recovery journey,” the decision reads.

Along with the three years of supervision, the nurse will also not be allowed to work nights or overtime, be the nurse-in-charge or be assigned students.

The registered nurse can now add their name to a list of BC nurses who have been caught pilfering narcotics from work.

Early this year, a BC nurse who was already on conditions for stealing narcotics from work was caught swiping narcotics from work. They avoided any suspension but were placed on further conditions.

Another nurse who was caught in April was suspended for a week after pilfering narcotics and working while high.

Other nurses have falsified medical records to cover their tracks, while one nurse received a week’s suspension for replacing the drugs with over-the-counter narcotics.

The stiffest penalty handed out in recent years was in 2023 when a nurse received a three-month suspension after it emerged they’d been stealing narcotics for seven years.