A man and a woman went to the Stag and Hunter pub in Newcastle for drinks, had lunch, and went back to her room to “make out”. They were celebrating the woman’s daughter’s upcoming wedding, and over the course of the “wonderful day out” in October 2013, they began to fall in love. They married this year and live together in Queensland. The story sounds like a happy one, but last week the Civil and Administrative Tribunal found it was not ethical for the man to take the woman out for drinks and lunch, and have intimate contact with her because he was an enrolled nurse at the aged care facility she was staying. The tribunal ruled the nurse, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, seriously breached professional boundaries, finding him guilty of professional misconduct. The 51-year-old woman, who uses a wheelchair and needs 24-hour care, was at Mayfield Aged Care facility for respite care, when the nurse took her on an outing on his day off. When they returned to the centre, the nurse told other staff: “We are going to her room to make out.” Staff said the woman appeared to be drunk, and overheard her say they had “too many, but that is our secret”. The nurse admitted undressing her, undressing himself down to his underwear and kissing and cuddling in her bed, telling concerned staff who knocked at her door: “We are busy. Go away.” The police were called, and the nurse was suspended from the centre.
