Aged care nurse manager suspended

27 Aug 2020

A tribunal has confirmed the suspension of a nurse’s registration on appeal.

The Victorian and Civil Administrative Tribunal (the tribunal) has confirmed the decision of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (the NMBA) to take immediate action and suspend a nurse’s registration.

Paul Gardner was working as a Nursing Unit Manager in November 2019 when he allegedly lost control, made physical contact with one of the residents and spoke aggressively. The NMBA subsequently took immediate action to suspend Mr Gardner’s nursing registration preventing him from working as a nurse while the investigation continued.

Mr Gardner appealed the NMBA’s decision and the matter proceeded to a hearing on 28 February 2020. In its decision, the tribunal formed a reasonable belief that the conduct occurred as alleged and that Mr Gardner therefore poses a serious risk to persons.

In addition to the evidence directly relevant to the incident, the tribunal noted Mr Gardner had reportedly not managed stress well in past interactions with management and colleagues. The tribunal also noted his apparent failure to adequately acknowledge responsibility for his conduct and the fact that nurses regularly find themselves in stressful situations, especially where patients have challenging behaviours, or complex needs.

The tribunal considered it is therefore necessary to take immediate action in the form of a suspension to sufficiently address the risk posed by Mr Gardner.

The investigation of the notification is ongoing.

The full findings are available on the Austlii website.