A family set up a hidden camera to catch a district nurse stealing money

A hidden camera set up by suspicious family members revealed the thieving ways of a district nurse, who repeatedly stole money from her elderly patient’s purse.

A district nurse has been been found guilty of professional misconduct after stealing from her elderly patient, in the patient’s own home. Picture: iStock

A hidden camera set up by concerned family members revealed the thieving ways of a district nurse, who repeatedly stole money from her elderly patient while in her home providing care.

Nurse Jessica Dart was on Wednesday found guilty of professional misconduct at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT), some years after her crimes.

Ms Dart had been working as a district nurse in a Victorian regional centre for about four years when, in late 2017 and early 2018, she sneakily stole from her 89 year-old patient’s purse.

The elderly woman was living alone at the time, VCAT heard.

“The patient’s family became concerned that money was disappearing. Arrangements were made for the patient to have less cash in her purse and to keep receipts. The family checked the patient’s purse regularly and found that funds were missing. A hidden camera was set up in the patient’s bedroom pointed towards where she kept her handbag and purse on the floor. The camera showed Ms Dart picking up the purse, opening it and removing something before returning the purse to the floor,” the tribunal noted.

“The patient’s family informed Ms Dart’s employer and, after an interview at which she admitted stealing funds from the patient, her employment was terminated on 25 January 2018.”

Ms Dart later pleaded guilty in the Magistrates’ Court to four charges, relating to the theft of a total of $200 and was released, without conviction, on a good behaviour bond.

Her nursing registration was suspended on February 19, 2018.

“By the time of our decision, that (suspension) period totalled three-and-a-half years,” the tribunal noted, adding she would now also be required to complete an ethics course.

“We had no difficulty concluding that Ms Dart’s conduct was substantially below the standard reasonably expected of a nurse of her training and experience and so . . . the definition of professional conduct was met . . . we were satisfied stealing from a patient in one’s care does not demonstrate the required character and moral rectitude expected of a nurse. The fact the amounts stolen were comparatively small is irrelevant because the breach of trust was so significant.”

Ms Dart had visited the elderly patient’s home regularly between May 29 and November 14, 2017; sometimes every day or every couple of days in a week, with the patient and family initially trusting her.

And while the patient lived a largely independent life, there were times she needed help with medication and other times she was quite unwell.

“The patient’s vulnerability would have been heightened at times when additional assistance was required,” the tribunal noted.

In her statement to police, the patient’s daughter said her mother had become “extremely upset” over the incident and was at a loss to understand “how someone could do that to her”.