BC nurse swipes drugs at work and puts different meds back in the box

A BC nurse who swiped drugs at work and then put over-the-counter meds back in the boxes has been suspended for one week.

According to a Sept. 13 BC College of Nurses and Midwives decision, the unnamed registered nurse was "diverting controlled-class medications" for their own personal use.

The nurse then falsified the paperwork in an attempt to hide the fact they'd taken the drugs, and on occasion tampered with the packaging replacing the drugs with an uncontrolled substance.

Following the events that took place between April and November 2023, the nurse was diagnosed with a causal relationship with the drugs.

The nursing regulator didn't say what type of drugs the nurse was taking, but so far this year several nurses have been disciplined for pilfering narcotics from work.

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In 2023, 11 nurses were reprimanded for swiping narcotics from work with punishments varying from having conditions placed on their practice to a three-month suspension for a nurse found to have been doing it for seven years.

In the current case, the nurse was also caught snooping on patients' records, making them the third nurse this year to be caught looking at records they shouldn't have.

Following the one-week suspension, the College placed conditions on the the nurse for the next three years.

They will have to abstain from taking psychoactive substances and complete a number of counselling sessions. They will also be limited in handling controlled-class medications, only allowed to work day shifts and not be the nurse in charge.

The decision said they will be supervised to monitor "activities related to controlled-class medications" and to see if there is a "pattern suggestive that drug diversion is recurring."

No other information is given in the decision.

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

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