Nurse who fell in love with prison inmate suspended for 6 months

The nurse and inmate started sending letters to one another. Photo / NZME

A nurse who says she couldn't help but fall in love with an inmate she used to treat has had her licence suspended for 6 months.

Today, the chairman of the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal, Theo Baker, said a suspension of her licence was needed in order to protect the public and to send a very clear message to the profession.

"Pursuing a relationship with a former client in the circumstances such as these is unacceptable."

"She had over six years of practice and must have known her relationship was unethical and potentially harmful.

Baker also spoke of the woman's failure to tell someone when the inmate made contact with her.

"You didn't respond to him until after you had finished working at the prison.

"You must have known that a relationship with him while working there was bad.

"This is just another indication of a lack of insight and acknowledgement of your responsibility," Baker said.

The nurse, who has name suppression, was working as a mental health clinician at a South Island prison when she first met the man, who is now her partner.

The prisoner had sought healthcare from behind bars and had his first appointment with the mental health nurse in December 2018.

Over a period of six months, the inmate had nine sessions with the nurse, with each appointment ranging from 10 to 60 minutes. The last appointment was in May 2019.

But after the sessions stopped, the inmate decided to pursue his former medical practitioner and had a friend pass on a message for him.

"He had his friend's partner send me a Facebook message, asking me to write to him."

"I didn't know the reason for this. I thought it might be to provide ongoing support for him," the nurse said.

A month later she resigned from her job at the prison to undertake a new role elsewhere.

That same month the nurse sent the inmate a letter.

The nurse and inmate started sending letters to one another. Photo / NZME

Over the next month, the pair sent letters to one another and the relationship turned personal, however, she claimed the relationship only turned romantic when they began calling each other in October 2019.

Phone conversations between the pair were shared with the tribunal and the nurse was caught expressing her attraction toward the inmate.

"I still remember seeing you in shorts, those thighs ... it's honestly not fair."

At yesterday's hearing, professional conduct committee lawyer Matthew McClelland QC, said the responsibility lay with the registered nurse, not the patient.

"This raises serious concerns regarding her ethics within the industry. She was in a privileged position and took advantage of him."

But lawyer Jonathan Coates described the woman as being a remarkable nurse who had made a mistake.

"The nursing community should be proud of a nurse who is so open and sincere about her mistakes," Coates told the tribunal.

"None of that takes away from her mistake. She is exactly the type of nurse you should be proud to have. She owns up to her mistakes and demonstrates such compassion.

"People do fall in love in really special and unique ways. It involves a former patient, not a current one and the relationship was initiated by the inmate."

The woman has been suspended from practising for a period of six months and has been given two conditions to obey by when she returns.

The first condition involves the woman engaging in supervision external to the organisation she works at, the second is she has to inform any future employer of the tribunal's decision.

Both of these conditions are to be upheld for three years.

The nurse was also ordered to pay $11,500 in costs.