A male mental health nurse who had sex with a vulnerable female patient has been struck off the nursing register. In its verdict published after an earlier Wellington hearing, the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal has also censured the nurse for his unethical behaviour and ordered him to pay $9920 towards the costs of his prosecution. The nurse had “exploited” the woman’s troubles with alcohol by giving her wine, the lawyers representing the Health and Disability Commissioner’s prosecutor told the tribunal. His name has been suppressed, to protect the patient, whose name is also suppressed. The nurse, who had been registered for 32 years, was working as a forensic court liaison nurse for an unnamed district health board. The woman, a client of its community mental health service a number of times, had a pending court appearance for which she required the nurse’s services. She had a history of major depressive disorder, generalised anxiety and panic attacks, thinking about suicide, and alcohol issues. She was particularly vulnerable to exploitation after drinking alcohol.
