Former RAH nurse Nicole Richardson disqualified after using colleagues’ credentials to obtain drugs from hospital

A nurse with an oxy addiction has been banned after she found a deceitful way to obtain drugs while at work.

A former enrolled nurse secretly used her colleagues’ credentials to dispense herself drugs after a back injury led her to becoming addicted to Oxycodone.

The South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal reprimanded and disqualified Nicole Richardson for her “highly unprofessional” conduct after she spiralled out of control.

The tribunal heard Ms Richardson, 41, had been working as an enrolled nurse at the Royal Adelaide Hospital since 2013 before her registration lapsed in July 2023.

In 2022, Ms Richardson was working on the Colorectal Ward where the medication supplies were secured and dispensed by Automated Dispensing Cabinets (ADCs).

In order to dispense medication required for a patient, a nurse would log in to the ADC, using a personal ID and a fingerprint ID.

If a nurse left the ADC but failed to log off, the session would remain active for 20 seconds.

The tribunal heard Ms Richardson used an ADC which was still active from a previous user multiple times between May and June 2022.

The medication was purportedly dispensed for patients but was actually for Ms Richardson’s personal use.

The tribunal heard Ms Richardson misappropriated 95 oxycodone tablets, 85 tapentadol tablets, and 36 diazepam tablets during the relevant period.

Ms Richardson also logged in under her own credentials on 22 occasions to dispense medications, saying they were for patients when they were also for her own use.

She was “caught in the act” on June 9, 2022 and admitted her professional misconduct.

The tribunal heard Ms Richardson suffered a serious back injury some years ago and she became dependent on pain relief medication.

“She felt she was “spiralling out of control” and described herself as being in a “bad mind frame” by May 2022,” the tribunal said.

“She felt that she could not stop herself and was taking up to 50mg of oxycodone per day.”

The tribunal heard Ms Richardson sought medical assistance to control her addiction after her misconduct was detected and was extremely remorseful.

“Whilst the risk of relapse cannot be discounted, there is reason for some confidence as to the future,” the tribunal said.

It was accepted by the tribunal that the medication was not consumed at work.

“Honesty and integrity are at the heart of nursing practice,” the tribunal said.

“(The conduct) was dishonest and highly unprofessional.

“It potentially compromised her colleagues whose credentials she used to misappropriate the medication.

“There was ample opportunity for reflection, but the conduct continued.”

Ms Richardson was disqualified from applying for registration as a health practitioner for 18 months.

Originally published as Former RAH nurse Nicole Richardson disqualified after using colleagues’ credentials to obtain drugs from hospital