Nurse disqualified for 12 months for professional misconduct

19 May 2017

A registered nurse has been reprimanded and disqualified from applying for registration for 12 months for professional misconduct.

The State Administrative Tribunal of Western Australia (the tribunal) found that Mr Brian Roha Smith behaved in a way that constituted professional misconduct, in relation to a physical altercation with a patient.

Mr Smith admitted that on 2 April 2014 he was involved in a physical altercation with a patient while practising as a registered nurse in the Mental Health Unit of Joondalup Health Campus, Western Australia, during which:

• his arm was around the patient’s neck region in a way that appeared to restrict the patient’s airway,
• he placed his finger in the patient’s eye, and
• he used an inappropriate physical restraint on the patient.

In April 2014, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) received a notification about Mr Smith and took immediate action by accepting an undertaking from Mr Smith that he would not practise until the investigation had been resolved.

On 31 May 2015, Mr Smith’s registration lapsed after he did not renew it. On 15 January 2016, the NMBA referred the matter to the tribunal.

The tribunal found that Mr Smith had breached the Code of professional conduct for nurses in Australia and that he had failed to practise in the accordance with the National competency standards for the registered nurse.

The tribunal found that Mr Smith had engaged in professional misconduct and he was reprimanded, disqualified from applying for registration as a nurse for a period of 12 months, and ordered to pay the NMBA’s costs, fixed at $1,700.

The reasons for the decision are published on the tribunal’s website.