Tribunal cancels nurse’s registration after theft of $40,000 from patient

28 Dec 2016

A tribunal has reprimanded a nurse, cancelled his registration and disqualified him from applying for registration for three years, after he admitted stealing approximately $40,000 from a patient over a period of about four years.

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (the tribunal) found Mr Dung Nguyen guilty of two charges of professional misconduct and two charges of unprofessional conduct brought against him by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA).

In 2013, Mr Nguyen’s employment had been terminated following his admission that he had misappropriated money from a patient and he was also charged in relation to the theft of a colleague’s property. That year, the NMBA took immediate action against Mr Nguyen and his registration was suspended.

In November 2013, Mr Nguyen was convicted by the Magistrates’ Court of dishonestly obtaining property by deception and stealing property valued at approximately $40,000 from a patient. He was sentenced to two months’ imprisonment and an 18 month Community Correction Order.

In December 2016, the tribunal heard the NMBA allegations against Mr Nguyen and found him guilty of professional misconduct and unprofessional conduct. The tribunal took into consideration Mr Nguyen’s expression of remorse for his actions, but found that his conduct was a significant breach of trust, undermined the community’s confidence in the nursing profession and breached fundamental ethical standards in nursing.

The tribunal reprimanded Mr Nguyen, cancelled his registration and disqualified him from applying for registration for three years.

The reasons for the decision have been published on the Austlii website.