Psychiatric nurses develop personal and intimate relationships with "very vulnerable" patients, lie to authorities, and then be suspended. became.
When Jaclyn Stratton was working in Victoria, Australia, she started a six-month relationship with a patient taking care of her.
Relationships include regular personal contact, social activities, very personal text messages using pseudonyms, and gender, which have been passed on to Victorian citizens and administrative courts. rice field.
Mr. Stratton told the manager that his relationship with the patient was jeopardized and triggered the investigation.
But when she was interviewed, she lied about the nature of the relationship, the length of the relationship, and the degree of interaction with the patient.
She said it was a friendship that ended, but "it was clear that it was far from accepting that the patient had to quit the relationship," the court said.
In her latest statement to the Nursing Commission, she said the patient threatened to commit suicide when she tried to end her relationship.
Stratton's employer accepted her false statements and apologies and gave her warnings and educational documents to complete.
But she involved the patient in writing it. That's what the court saw as a "deterioration" factor.
Her employer knew the essence of the relationship only when the patient reported it.
"In short, she lied about the nature, scope and duration of the relationship and took urgent action to protect the welfare and best interests of the very vulnerable patient. This prevented that from happening, "the Victorian Civil and Administrative Court said in a decision Thursday.
Stratton recognizes the vulnerabilities of the diagnosed patient There was a borderline personality disorder, chronic suicide thoughts with self-injurious behavior.
After the board was notified of the act, the nurse said he was "trapped and scared."
She explained the fear of the patient doing self-harm as the reason she continued the relationship, and after she stopped it, she was "afraid of what would happen". So he said he continued to contact him by phone.
However, the court said that the fact that she had those concerns made it even more important for her to disclose the true situation to her employer.
"Complete honesty was essential and urgent. This should have been obvious to her," the court said.
"By hiding the truth, Mr. Stratton prioritized self-defense and the needs of the patient."
The court said she was too sympathetic and spiritual. He refused her explanation that her actions were taken because she believed that she was not suitable for health care.
But she admitted that she "deeply regrets" what happened.
In her evidence, she describes her actions as "horrible, totally vicious, thinking every day and unable to forgive her."
A nurse currently working as a midwife turns out to be involved in professional misconduct by breaking her professional boundaries and providing falsely misleading information. Did.
She has been suspended for 3 months and her enrollment has training and monitoring conditions set and will be confirmed after 12 months.
"The obvious breach here is a serious problem for nurses and medical professionals caring for patients, especially if the patients are vulnerable," said Elizabeth, senior member of VCAT. Wentworth and medical practitioners Mary Archibald and Pamela Barry said. In their ruling.
"In mental health or psychiatric care, it is recognized that such violations can cause greater harm.
" In this case, the harm is perceived. It was done. "