Former Border nurse stole scripts, gave false information to board

Kristy Kindl had last worked in nursing at Albury Wodonga Private Hospital in April 2011.

Between February and July 2018, she stole blank prescription pages from her husband, who was a doctor.

She forged about 50 prescriptions for the opioid pain medication oxycodone using her husband's name and details.

Those scripts were handed out at multiple pharmacies before Kindl was charged by police in October 2018.

She admitted to various offences, including theft, forgery, and drug possession, and was placed on a diversion plan in court in December of that year.

She had to donate $1000 to the Royal Children's Hospital and receive treatment for her addiction.

Kindl had been diagnosed with "severe opioid use disorder".

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal heard she had been prescribed opioids for a fractured coccyx from 2016 and had become addicted.

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia applied to cancel her nursing licence for the offending, and for giving false information about when she had practised.

The board requires nurses to meet certain criteria, including having worked full-time for three months in the previous five years, in order for registrations to be renewed.

Kindl gave incorrect information to the board after making online applications in 2016, 2017 and 2018, in which she claimed to have recently worked.

She made the applications but, on her own admissions, hadn't worked in any capacity between April 2011 and April 2016.

Her last nursing work had been in Albury in April 2011.

She claimed to have worked for her husband as a practice manager and in a clinical nursing role, which the husband denied.

He said she had only undertaken some administrative work.

The Victoria Civil and Administrative Tribunal found Kindl had been involved in professional misconduct, that her actions lacked moral integrity, and that she had provided misleading information.

"The conduct of nurses maintains and builds public trust and confidence in the profession at all times," VCAT members Anna Dea, Mary Archibald and Marietta Bylhouwer said.

"The unlawful and unethical actions of nurses in their personal lives risk adversely affecting both their own and the profession's good reputation and standing in the eyes of the public.

"If the good standing of either individual nurses or the profession were to diminish, this might jeopardise the inherent trust between the nursing profession and the public necessary for effective therapeutic relationships and the effective delivery of nursing care."

The VCAT members said doctors needed to be aware of the dangers of opioid addiction when prescribing.

"It is extremely regrettable that, again, a health practitioner is before the tribunal because they developed an addiction to opioids prescribed for a legitimate purpose," the said.

"There is a clear need for medical practitioners to assess with great care the need for opioids, the appropriate dosage and the duration of treatment by that means.

"Health practitioners need to be aware of the risks of addiction associated with opioid use and engage in appropriate treatment if they are at risk or have developed an addiction."

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