Registered nurse Koa Kien Chau banned from practising for three years after making false claims on job applications

A nurse has been slammed by a tribunal for his “unethical” actions after he lied about his qualifications on job applications and sent a sexually explicit X-ray to colleagues.

A “calculated” nurse has been banned from practising for three years after he lied about his job qualifications and sent a sexually explicit X-ray to colleagues.

The South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal found Koa Kien Chau, who was first registered as a nurse in 2014, brought his profession into “disrepute” by his unethical actions.

According to a recently published judgment, the tribunal found Mr Chau had knowingly made false claims about his experience and qualifications in 11 job applications between January 2018 and January 2021.

The job applications for positions at several Adelaide hospitals had false claims about Mr Chau’s previous employment, including that he had been employed as a clinical nurse for the SA Ambulance Service retrieval service MedStar.

The tribunal heard Mr Chau was working a shift at Burnside Hospital in February 2019 when he told another registered nurse that he was an advanced life support instructor and was a level 3 trauma nurse at the RAH.

Registered nurse Koa Kien Chau banned from practising for three years after making false claims on job applications. Picture: iStock

While Mr Chau was working at the QEH between May and September 2019 he also included “Masters in Nursing” in his email signature.

All of these claims were false.

The tribunal heard Mr Chau supervised and assessed two registered nurses performing invasive procedures on several occasions without having the authority to do so.

The tribunal heard Mr Chau, who was then Associate Nurse Unit Manager at the QEH, prepared and circulated a “student roster template” which include an X-ray image appearing to depict male genitalia in June 2019.

Mr Chau admitted each of the allegations and agreed his conduct amounted to professional misconduct.

He has not renewed his registration since it lapsed on June 30, 2023.

The tribunal, comprising senior member Kathleen McEvoy and members Elaine Golding and Brigid Coombe said Mr Chau’s actions were “calculated, repeated and ongoing”.

“We are satisfied that Mr Chau’s conduct was dishonest and unethical, is inherently serious, and demonstrates a failure of professional integrity,” they said.

“In our view the dishonesty demonstrated by Mr Chau is very serious, as his misrepresentations may have led to his appointment to positions for which he was not qualified and in which in reality he had no relevant experience, placing patients and the public in general at significant risk.

“Such conduct brings the nursing profession into disrepute and is detrimental to the reputation of the profession, and undermines the confidence of the public in the nursing profession.”

The tribunal found Mr Chau’s actions amounted to professional misconduct and disqualified him from applying for registration or from providing any health service for three years.