VCAT delivered the finding in respect of nurse Vivian Mallows who stole painkillers from residents at Yarrawonga Health’s aged care unit, Karana.
She allegedly swapped patients’ medications – at times substituting oxycodone for Gastro Stop – while caring for residents
VCAT heard Ms Mallows had a painkiller addiction and worked a shift while under the influence and fed her habit by allegedly tampered and stole drugs from patients and the drug safe between November 2019 and June 2020.
She was caught after a resident’s family queried pharmacy bills for morphine and benzodiazepine.
The tribunal heard Ms Mallows had ordered medications for her own use and pretended it was on behalf of six patients, receiving 100 oxycodone tablets, 50 benzodiazepine pills and 20 morphine capsules in less than three months.
It was the stealing of medication from patients and drug storage, however, that prompted the most concern, which the Nursing and Midwifery Board argued “had the potential to seriously compromise patient safety and care” and “affect their pain management”.
VCAT found she “tampered” with restricted medications by “substituting the contents of the boxes with different medications” between November 2019 and May 2020, swapping strong painkillers such as oxycodone and morphine for over-the-counter medications such as Gastro Stop and Aspirin.
Copies of her notes from the subject shift contained strange sentence structure and spelling, while the tribunal heard she also used white-out to alter the dangerous drugs records book.
The board said her willingness to put “vulnerable patients at risk of harm by attending work while substance affected” was “unacceptable”.
She has not worked since she resigned on June 26, 2020 – the same day Yarrawonga Health reported her to the regulator – and she self-reported four days later. Her psychiatrist’s report said the ex-nurse had a history of depression – linked to chronic pain and deteriorating health – and a “moderate opiate use disorder and benzodiazepine use disorder”.
The tribunal ruled her behaviour was professional misconduct but said she had good rehabilitation prospects.
“Having been in the grip of a debilitating addiction … Ms Mallows has achieved a remarkable and commendable change in her circumstances,” VCAT stated.
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