Tribunal reprimands former nurse for professional misconduct

25 Feb 2020

A tribunal has reprimanded a former nurse for professional misconduct concerning medication administration.

Ms Kasey Hyams admitted to the State Administrative Tribunal in Western Australia (the tribunal) that on at least 10 occasions over three days in April 2017, while working as a registered nurse in an aged care facility, she disposed of patient medication instead of administering it. Ms Hyams initialed the clinical records on each occasion to falsely indicate that she administered the medication.

On 21 March 2019, the tribunal found that Ms Hyams had behaved in a way the constitutes professional misconduct, reprimanded her and ordered her to pay $1,200 towards the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia’s costs. Ms Hyams was no longer registered as a nurse at the time. The tribunal noted that if Ms Hyams had been registered at the time the orders were made, it would have imposed conditions on her registration requiring further education, training and supervised practice.

The tribunal’s decision is published on the eCourts Portal of Western Australia website.