Nurse suspended three years for illegally accessing hundreds of patient records

A North Island registered nurse has been suspended for three years after the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal found she repeatedly accessed the medical records of more than 300 people without any valid clinical reason.

According to the Tribunal’s decision released this month, the nurse — identified as Ms R — used her authorised ‘Concerto’ login to look up the records of 181 elderly individuals, 101 people aged 0–65, and 44 staff members while working as a clinical nurse manager at an aged care facility.

The Tribunal found she accessed records of people who were not in her care, including independent-living residents, staff seeking personal test results, and even deceased individuals, behaviour it ruled amounted to malpractice and conduct likely to discredit the nursing profession.

Although the Tribunal accepted the COVID-19 pandemic had “created extreme pressure” on staffing and vaccination requirements, it said these circumstances could not justify such extensive, unjustified privacy breaches.

Ms R, who did not attend the hearing, admitted the access but said she believed she was helping others.

The Tribunal disagreed, noting many searches were simply “nosy” and entirely inappropriate.

Instead of cancelling her registration — described as a “finely balanced” decision — the Tribunal imposed a three-year suspension, mandatory privacy and ethics training, 12 months of supervised practice on her return, and an obligation to disclose the decision to future employers.

Permanent name suppression was granted for the nurse, affected staff, patients, and the facility involved.

Image credit: National Cancer Institute (US)