Tribunal upholds board-imposed conditions on nurse’s registration

12 Feb 2018

A tribunal has upheld conditions imposed by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) on a nurse’s registration for a finding of unsatisfactory professional conduct.

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (the tribunal) upheld the NMBA’s decision to impose conditions on Mr Mohd Zulkarnaen Abdul Wahid’s registration, after he had appealed the Board’s decision.

Mr Abdul Wahid had been the subject of two complaints to the NMBA concerning his conduct towards an elderly patient at a hospital where he was working on 29 and 30 October 2016. The patient had been transferred to the hospital after a suspected stroke and was confused with reduced communication skills.

Mr Abdul Wahid was alleged to have repeatedly shouted at the patient, handled the patient roughly and failed to draw a curtain while the patient used a bedpan. Mr Abdul Wahid was also alleged to have commented to the patient’s relative that he ‘did not do compassion.’

Mr Abdul Wahid admitted the conduct but stated that, while he regretted his comment that he ‘did not do compassion,’ he would otherwise not act differently in the same circumstances.

The tribunal agreed with the NMBA’s decision that Mr Abdul Wahid’s conduct, while not amounting to professional misconduct and while not motivated by intent to do harm, was unsatisfactory and did not meet his professional standards as set out in the Code of professional conduct for nurses in Australia and the Code of ethics for nurses in Australia.

The tribunal upheld the NMBA conditions on Mr Abdul Wahid’s registration, including that he complete eight hours of further education within a 12 month period, which must include ethics and person-centred care. The tribunal made a practical change to the conditions to allow Mr Abdul Wahid 12 months from the date of its decision to complete this education.

The decision can be viewed on the tribunal’s website.