A nurse has been fined $25,000 for allowing an ex-prisoner she had treated stay at her home as a flatmate for nine months. The nurse, who has permanent name suppression, claimed an invitation to the former prisoner to stay at her home for a night as a guest, and thereafter as a flatmate, was an act of kindness and compassion. But the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal found the relationship to be inappropriate, as she had previously cared for the prisoner while she worked at a Corrections facility. In the decision, the nurse was censured and ordered to pay a fine of $5000, plus $20,000 towards the cost of the hearing. The tribunal noted it was within a “hair’s breadth” of suspending the nurse. It was also noted that the prisoner was a “vulnerable person” and there was a “significant power imbalance” between the nurse and the prisoner.
