Ballarat Health nurses Claire Clingin, Danielle Breust, Simone Van Stekelenburg suspended

Three Ballarat Health nurses on duty during the tragic death of a patient were all found to have committed professional misconduct.

Ballarat Health nurses Claire Clingin, Simone Van Stekelenburg and Danielle Breust.

Three nurses on duty when a patient committed suicide during his first night in a hospital unit have been suspended.

Nurses Claire Clingin, Danielle Breust and Simone Van Stekelenburg were all reprimanded for professional misconduct after the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia initiated disciplinary action against the trio.

The board alleged all three nurses failed to make proper checks on a patient who took his own life while under their care at a Ballarat Health Services unit.

It’s also alleged Clingin, Breust and Van Stekelenburg gave statements to police which contradicted CCTV evidence.

A Coroners Court report handed down in September 2017 found the nurses had failed to check on the patient every 15 minutes, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal heard.

The Coroner noted there was “clear and cogent” evidence that “infrequent nursing observations” contrary to Ballarat Health policies and procedures were of an “inadequate form and quality” and contributed to the deceased patient’s “ability to initiate action to take his own life”.

A patient took his own life while at a Ballarat Health Services unit. Picture: Chloe Smith

The tribunal heard the Coroner, during the initial inquest, should only rely on CCTV footage rather than health charts or statements made to police.

The nurses informed police of the CCTV footage after the investigation began, the tribunal was told.

CCTV footage revealed gaps of up 43 minutes went by without any observations made on the deceased patient.

The tribunal was also told there was a “lack of contact or effort” by the nurses and there was no evidence in records or statements that the nurses “made any effort to follow the treatment plan” when the deceased was awake or at any other time.

In her statement Ms Clingin confirmed she had no contact with the deceased during the shift.

The tribunal also heard the nurses’ statements were made without an offer or suggestion of legal advice by police.

The panel also heard the nurses had given police their statements when they were traumatised, after they had removed the dead patient from his room and immediately tried to resuscitate the man.

The Coroner “observed” that it wasn’t until the CCTV footage was viewed that the issues arose in relation to the discrepancy between the time at which the nursing observations occurred, the intervals between the observations and manner in which those observations were conducted.

The tribunal was told the greater gaps between monitoring afforded the patient “more opportunity” to take his life but stricter observations would not have “definitely prevented” the patient’s death.

Sarah Keating, for the board, said according to the coroner’s observations, there were discrepancies between what the nurses told police about how often the patient was checked and what was viewed in footage.

The coroner also lashed out at a Ballarat Health internal review which found the nurses “complied with policy and procedure” before implementing “restorative” changes to its practices.

The tribunal, which handed down its decision on Wednesday, suspended Clingin for two months while Breust and Van Stekelenburg were both suspended for three months.

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