RN Sentenced for Medication Tampering

[Erin Lee, BSN, RN]

Quote

Hall admitted that on August 27, 2023, she took morphine that had been prescribed for three patients... Hall replaced the stolen morphine with water and blue food coloring, to resemble the real medication.

                                                                                                    - Justice.Gov

A former Kentucky nurse is now serving five years in federal prison for stealing and diluting patient medications—an act that not only broke the law but put vulnerable patients at risk.

Medication diversion isn't as rare as we'd like to believe. The Retrievals podcast exposes a case at a fertility clinic where patients unknowingly endured painful procedures without proper medication. And it's not the only story of diversion that has made headlines.

Stories like this raise tough questions:

⚠️ What drives a nurse to this point?
⚠️ Were there warning signs?
⚠️ Is this a system issue or an individual issue?
⚠️ Could better oversight or support have prevented it?

Have you ever witnessed or suspected medication diversion in your workplace? How was it handled?

[Patricia Ordnung]

When I was a fairly new nurse, Norco was being diverted right under my nose, and I had no idea.  The DON found out somewhat by accident from an outside source, and while she was investigating, the diverting nurse took an office position, so it was dropped.  Astoundingly, the facility didn't report her to anyone.  Ultimately, she wrote herself a script for 150 Norco (yes, you read that amount correctly) and went to prison.  Looking back, the signs were there.  I think I just didn't want believe  a nurse whose skills were excellent, and who loved her patients so much could jeopardize them, and her livelihood. 

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

Apparently I am bad, like really bad at spotting any warning signs of diversion.  I worked LTC for over 20 years, the amount of diversion I later found out about was astounding.  A couple of the more memorable ones:  An RN I worked with that I really liked, a lot, we found out only after she was let go that she was under investigation for diversion from her former employer, the investigation took so long she was able to secure employment with my facility and was there for several months. Turns out the diversion was so extreme she lost her license. Another WTH one, our DON of 4 years was diverting meds like crazy from about every place he had worked, we live in a border town and he ended up losing his license in both states. last I heard he was selling used cars. 

[Erin Lee, BSN, RN]

Sometimes it's just not apparent! I worked with a nurse who was sentenced months after I left. I was a traveler she was a PRN break nurse in the ICU. Apparently, she was stealing fentanyl from the IV bags of our intubated/sedated patients and replacing it with tap water!! I had no idea until two of the girls I worked with had texted me about the incident. It was absolutely mind-blowing; I barely remembered her but can't help but wonder if I missed any signs - things that changed after she cared for my patients, etc.