BC nurse avoids suspension after pilfering meds from work

A BC nurse has avoided a suspension after he spent a month pilfering medication from work.

According to a Jan. 20 BC College of Nurses and Midwives decision, licensed practical nurse Dragana Colic swiped the drugs from work between June 8 and July 8, 2024.

The nursing regulator doesn’t give any details about which medications Colic took, or what he did with the meds, only saying that he “diverted medication from the workplace that was intended for patients.”

“Nurses are expected to only perform medication-related activities as allowed by relevant provincial or federal legislation or regulations, BC College of Nurses and Midwives standards, limits, and conditions, organizational/employer policies and processes, and the nurse’s individual competence,” the decision reads.

Where Colic worked at the time isn’t given in the decision, and his current place of work is listed as the nursing agency Select Medical Connections in Burnaby.

The licensed practical nurse signed a consent agreement admitting to his behaviour and the regulator issued a public reprimand.

He’ll also have to do education in documentation, medication administration, ethical practice and conflict of interest, and meet with a standards and guidance consultant.

Colic is one of a handful of nurses who have been reprimanded in recent years for swiping drugs from work. Some have been caught on more than one occasion.

The majority of cases have involved a nurse diverting narcotics from work for personal use, and some have falsified paperwork to cover it up, or even replaced the drugs with over-the-counter medication.

Repercussions vary from a suspension of three months for a nurse who’d been swiping drugs for seven years, to one-week suspensions for a nurse who replaced medication with over-the-counter meds and another who worked while high. 

The regulator says it is satisfied that the terms will address the professional and practice concerns that arose and will protect the public.