Case Study: Professional Misconduct of a Registered Nurse

This report presents a comprehensive analysis of a case involving professional misconduct by a registered nurse, focusing on the adverse outcomes experienced by patients. The report meticulously examines the actions and omissions of the nurse that contributed to the negative consequences, referencing specific instances such as the unauthorized video recordings of patients and the illegal procurement of medication. It delves into additional contributing factors, including the nurse's failure to adhere to professional ethics and the breach of trust. Furthermore, the report outlines the actions that should have been taken by the registered nurse to prevent the adverse outcomes, referencing relevant literature and ethical guidelines. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of disciplinary responses to protect the public and maintain the integrity of healthcare practices. The analysis references legal and ethical frameworks, including the National Law, to highlight the severity of the nurse's actions and the consequences thereof.

Running head: PROFESSIONAL MISCONDUCT OF REGISTERED NURSE 1
Professional Misconduct of Registered Nurse
Name of the Student
Name of the Instructor
Course Code
Date

PROFESSIONAL MISCONDUCT OF REGISTERED NURSE 2
1.0 Introduction
Nursing is considered to be a self-determining profession which means that it is the
responsibility of the nurses to protect the public from any health-related issues. It is the basic
duty of the registered nurses to stick on into the standards of practice thereby concentrating on
their professional responsibilities. All these healthcare standards are being set by the nursing
colleges and healthcare organizations for the registered nurses to provide adequate, safe, and
responsible care for the patients. But, at times these healthcare professionals perform certain
misconduct by breaching the healthcare standards.
This report is going to discuss a case of Ms. Diosa Rankine that resulted in the
occurrence of adverse conditions on the patients. The report then concentrates on the other
factors which contributed to the adverse effect on the patient. Then, it focuses on the actions that
need to be taken by the registered nurse for preventing the adverse result of the patient. Finally,
the report ends with a conclusion.
2.0 Actions taken by the registered nurse which contributes towards the
adverse effect on the patient
According to the chosen case, it has been investigated that Ms. Diosa Rankine was found
to be a previously registered nurse and she was being registered under the Health Practitioner
Regulation National Law. Later on, it has been noticed that her registration had lapsed on 1st July
2017 and she had not applied for any renewal from that time. According to the law section 193
of National Law, it has been found that Ms. Diosa Rankine had committed professional
misconduct. Many allegations of misconduct against the respondent had come forward during

PROFESSIONAL MISCONDUCT OF REGISTERED NURSE 3
the year 2013 to 2015 and she was also a failure in reporting to the Board in the years 2016 and
2017. The health care Board had further forwarded the complaints against her to the Tribunal SA
Health Practitioners (Johnstone 2016). In August 2019, it has been noticed that the matter was
further transferred to the Tribunal for the final hearing of the case.
In the research, it has been found that Ms. Diosa Rankine was born on 8th November 1966
and she was mature enough when she engaged herself with professional misconduct. Firstly, the
respondent started her nursing career as a caretaker in an aged care organization. Later on, in the
year 2008, she got qualified as a registered nurse and started working as a registered nurse
(Corrado and Molinaro 2017). Then, in the year 2010, she was appointed as a permanent nurse of
Flinders Medical Centre. There had been six allegations in total that were against Ms. Diosa
Rankine and are as follows:
1. Illegal capturing of video of patient AB: According to the research it has been
identified that on 4th February 2015 Ms. Diosa Rankine had been working as a
registered nurse for Flinders Medical Centre. She had been assigned to taking care
of an 85-year-old lady who had a disease known as dementia. It has been found
that Ms. Diosa Rankine used her cell phone for making a video of that old lady
patient who was lying in her bed. The total duration of the video was of 34
seconds. In the video, the respondent tried to show the indications of dementia
while the old lady was in hospital clothes (Surgenor, Diesfeld and Rychert 2019).
In front of the Tribunal, the respondent admitted that she showed that video the
patient, her partner, and also to a friend where she was laughing and made the
video to be funny. Later on, the respondent had claimed that she took the video
for showing her partner regarding the difficulty of her work as a registered nurse

PROFESSIONAL MISCONDUCT OF REGISTERED NURSE 4
(Ashton 2016). The video was then uploaded on social media and was also cast in
television programs. According to Section 26B, it is evident that people engaging
with humiliating filming of others can result in a significant penalty. This offense
is considered to be a serious violation of trust and is considered to be a punishable
offense. As a healthcare professional it was the duty of Ms. Diosa Rankine to
show respect, dignity, privacy, and safety for the patients as a registered nurse.
But in this case, the respondent had not followed any of those protocols and
which resulted in professional misconduct and created a bad image for Flinders
Medical Centre.
2. Illegal capturing of video of patient CD: According to the case report, it has
been found that another similar case had come into account where the respondent,
Ms. Diosa Rankine was found to take a video recording of another vulnerable
patient on 17th June 2014 and that patient was also suffering from dementia.
According to the hospital records it has been found that the patient was mentally
disturbed and it was very difficult for taking care of her (Pohjanoksa et al. 2019).
In that situation, the respondent was found to record a video of that patient on her
cell phone and later on respondent had uploaded that particular video on a
Facebook group which was noticed by her partner and four friends. For clarifying
the situation, the respondent told that she took the video just for showing her
friends about the difficult condition she was going through while taking care of
the patients with dementia (Corrado and Molinaro 2017). But after proper
investigation, it has been found that the respondent had recorded two videos just

PROFESSIONAL MISCONDUCT OF REGISTERED NURSE 5
for entertaining her friends without thinking about the violation of dignity and
rights of the patient who was being admitted to that hospital.
3. Fake claims regarding over-medication: Ms. Diosa Rankine had claimed the
fact that she used to over-medicate some of the patients for making her work
easier during the time of taking care of those patients (Surgenor, Diesfeld and
Rychert 2019). She had also claimed the fact that she used to give more
medication than prescribed by the doctor. Her negligence and professional
misconduct had destroyed the confidence of the public on healthcare
professionals.
4. Illegal obtaining of prescription medicine: On 8th February 2013 Ms. Diosa
Rankine had texted one of her friends working at Flinders Medical Centre as a registered
nurse and requested her to steal prescription medicine from the hospital stock. In
response to that, her friend replied that it cannot be done on that particular date. When the
situation came forward, the council found it to be a security breach and under Section 136
of National Law, it is considered to be an unprofessional work of registered health
professionals (Birks et al. 2018).
3.0 Other factors that contributed towards the adverse effect on the patient
In the research, it has been found that Ms. Diosa Rankine was accused of several
allegations and all of them were strictly against the professional ethics and strict actions need to
be taken against her. It has been found that the respondent was unable to provide notice to the
Board even after seven days from the day she had been charged with several offensive acts

PROFESSIONAL MISCONDUCT OF REGISTERED NURSE 6
(Johnstone 2016). In return, she explained to the Tribunal that she is not going to work again as a
registered nurse.
4.0 Actions that need to be taken by the registered nurse for preventing the
adverse result of the patient
The misconduct that has been done by Ms. Diosa Rankine requires a serious disciplinary
response for protecting the public from any professional misconduct (Gilmour and Huntington
2017). Moreover, it is also required to ensure the public regarding the fact that these kinds of
professional misconduct will not be tolerated in the future by the hospital authority (Ciardullo,
Keller and Schoppmann 2016). In addition to it, the ethical healthcare standards will be followed
and the vulnerable persons will be given proper protection by the healthcare authorities. After
several meetings by the Board, it has been concluded that there is going to be disqualification of
the nursing registration for eight years and during this period, Ms. Diosa Rankine is not going to
apply for the nursing registration process. It is quite an appreciable fact that the respondent is not
going to return to this profession anymore and which is beneficial for the health care authority
and the sake of other patients (Tobiano et al. 2017).
The case study has predicted that the respondent is not going to provide any kind of
healthcare services to the patients for the tenure of eight years. The Board had taken the
responsibility of not allowing Ms. Diosa Rankine to provide Healthcare services for the patients
with a physical disability or in any aged caring organizations (Olson and Stokes 2016). The
respondent also needs to pay an amount of $2,000 to the complainant because of the professional
misconduct she had committed during her working tenure as a registered nurse. It has been found

PROFESSIONAL MISCONDUCT OF REGISTERED NURSE 7
that the respondent had suffered a lot because of her professional misconduct and due to her
mistake she had lost her job as a registered nurse (Stock 2019).
Dementia is regarded as ill functioning of the brain and which occurs older persons. In
this situation, Ms. Diosa Rankine should have provided good care to the patients and patients
suffering from dementia usually have problem with the intake of medicines in a regular manner.
The respondent should have helped the patients with regular intake of medicines for curing them
rather than humiliating those patients (Hynninen, Saarnio and Elo 2016).
5.0 Conclusion
After the end of the research, it can be concluded that Ms. Diosa Rankine was found to
have committed several professional misconducts during her professional life as a registered
nurse. She started her nursing career as a caretaker in an aged care organization and the year
2010 she was appointed as a permanent nurse of Flinders Medical Centre. During her work in
Flinders Medical Centre, she had done illegal filming of two aged patients for two consecutive
times and later on, she was caught by the Tribunal in the thorough investigation process. After all
these cases it has been found that on 8th February 2013 Ms. Diosa Rankine had texted one of her
friends working at Flinders Medical Centre as a registered nurse and requested her to steal
prescription medicine from the hospital stock. By taking all the illegal deeds of Ms. Diosa
Rankine into consideration, the Board had concluded that there is going to be disqualification of
the nursing registration for eight years. The respondent also needs to pay an amount of $2,000 to
the complainant because of the professional misconduct she had committed during her working
tenure as a registered nurse.

PROFESSIONAL MISCONDUCT OF REGISTERED NURSE 8
6.0 References
Ashton, K.S., 2016. Teaching nursing students about terminating professional relationships,
boundaries, and social media. Nurse education today, 37, pp.170-172.
Birks, M., Smithson, J., Antney, J., Zhao, L. and Burkot, C., 2018. Exploring the paradox: A
cross-sectional study of academic dishonesty among Australian nursing students. Nurse
education today, 65, pp.96-101.
Ciardullo, F.A., Keller, E.F.A. and Schoppmann, L.L.P., 2016. Alteration of Medical Records:
Turning a Winner into a Loser. Dateline, 15, p.4.
Corrado, A.M. and Molinaro, M.L., 2017. Moral distress in health care professionals. University
of Western Ontario Medical Journal, 86(2), pp.32-34.
Gaugler, J.E., Westra, B.L. and Kane, R.L., 2016. Professional discipline and support
recommendations for family caregivers of persons with dementia. International
psychogeriatrics, 28(6), pp.1029-1040.
Gilmour, J. and Huntington, A., 2017. Power and politics in the practice of nursing. Contexts of
Nursing: An Introduction, p.183.
Hurst, A., Coyne, E., Kellett, U. and Needham, J., 2019. Volunteers motivations and
involvement in dementia care in hospitals, aged care and resident homes: An integrative
review. Geriatric Nursing, 40(5), pp.478-486.
Hynninen, N., Saarnio, R. and Elo, S., 2016. Care practices of older people with dementia in the
surgical ward: A questionnaire survey. SAGE open medicine, 4, p.2050312116676033.

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Johnstone, M.J., 2016. Academic dishonesty and unethical behaviour in the
workplace. Australian Nursing and Midwifery Journal, 23(11), p.33.
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia v Rankine [2019] SACAT 57 (18 October 2019),
viewed 13 April 2020<https://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/sa/SACAT/
2019/57.html>
Olson, L.L. and Stokes, F., 2016. The ANA code of ethics for nurses with interpretive
statements: Resource for nursing regulation. Journal of Nursing Regulation, 7(2), pp.9-20.
Pohjanoksa, J., Stolt, M., Suhonen, R., Löyttyniemi, E. and Leino-Kilpi, H., 2019. Whistle-
blowing process in healthcare: from suspicion to action. Nursing ethics, 26(2), pp.526-540.
Stock, N.J., 2019. Legal and Ethical Issues Related to Professional Practice. Advanced Practice
in Healthcare: Dynamic Developments in Nursing and Allied Health Professions, pp.187-204.
Surgenor, L.J., Diesfeld, K. and Rychert, M., 2019. Consensual Sexual Relationships between
Health Practitioners and Their Patients: An Analysis of Disciplinary Cases from New
Zealand. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 26(5), pp.766-782.
Tobiano, G., Whitty, J.A., Bucknall, T. and Chaboyer, W., 2017. Nurses’ perceived barriers to
bedside handover and their implication for clinical practice. Worldviews on Evidence
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