Paul McMahon: Nurse stole dead patient's debit card for cigarettes
A palliative care nurse has been banned for three years after stealing a debit card from a dead patient and using it to buy cigarettes.
A palliative nurse who stole a debit card from a dead patient to buy cigarettes has been banned for three years.
The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia found Paul McMahon had engaged in professional misconduct after being charged with theft and obtaining property by deception in Melbourne in June 2023.
The board heard McMahon used a debit card belonging to a deceased patient and used it to purchase cigarettes on 17 separate occasions over a six-day period, racking up a bill of $1,016.45.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.His registration was suspended immediately and McMahon has not worked as a nurse since.
In a Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal order on April 10, it was noted McMahon had not worked in a nursing context since his suspension, which was extended for another six months, totalling a three-year forced hiatus.
The tribunal heard McMahon worked in palliative care from 2007 to 2019 at Melbourne’s Austin Hospital, before commencing as a clinical nurse consultant in community palliative care.
McMahon’s misconduct occurred when working at a telephone triage service based in a hospice and the deceased patient was not someone McMahon had met or treated.
He stole the debit card from a room that stored belongings of deceased people, the tribunal heard.
McMahon told the tribunal he was ashamed of his conduct and described pressures on his family at the time, as well as the impacts of working in palliative care, where everyone he cared for would die.
Presiding member Simon Cohen described McMahon’s behaviour as “disgraceful, dishonest and criminal”, whatever the explanation for it.
“The total period of suspension sends a clear message to the nursing profession that stealing from patients will not be countenanced,” Mr Cohen wrote in his findings.
“Any nurse who does so can expect a lengthy period out of practice.”
McMahon now works as a truck driver, and has no plans to return to nursing.
If he does, he must meet a number of conditions before being allowed to re-register, including professional ethics education and mentoring.
