Another BC nurse caught swiping narcotics

A BC nurse who swiped narcotics from work, and then doctored the paperwork to cover it up, will spend the next three years being monitored.

According to a recently published Sept. 26 BC College of Nurses and Midwives decision, the unnamed registered nurse spent six months pilfering the drugs during 2024.

The decision gave no details of how the nurse was caught or how they managed to get away with it.

The nurse admitted they’d been swiping the drugs and underwent intensive treatment, which has now been completed.

“The (BC College of Nurses and Midwives) recognizes that nurses and midwives, like any member of the public, may grapple with health issues that may impact their ability to practice safely, competently, and ethically,” the regulator said in the decision. “BC College of Nurses and Midwives expects that (nurses) will work only when they are fit to do so and will remove themselves from practice when they are unwell.”

The nurse signed a consent agreement and agreed to undergo three years of medical monitoring at work.

“In addition, the registrant will also have limits on their practice, including not working night shifts or overtime, not acting as the nurse-in-charge, not being assigned students,” the decision read.

The registered nurse is one of a handful of health-care workers who have been caught taking narcotics from work this year.

In May, a nurse was caught for the second time stealing narcotics from work, while on conditions from the first incident. While it was their second time, they avoided a suspension.

Early this year, a nurse was given a week-long suspension for taking narcotics while at work.

Nurses often cover their tracks by altering paperwork and one nurse was suspended for a week for putting over-the-counter meds back in the box.

In 2023, a nurse was suspended for three months after it was found she’d been stealing narcotics from work for seven years.