A nurse who stole personal protective equipment, including face masks, during a national shortage amid the Covid-19 pandemic has been disqualified for 12 months.
Selvarani Burwood was working casually for a tertiary institution as a clinical nurse facilitator in March 2020 when she pressured students under her supervision to help her steal PPE from a hospital.
She told students that she was traveling to England in two weeks, that she was going to high-risk places for COVID-19, that she was worried about her health and that she needed students to bring her masks from classrooms.
Selvarani Burwood (pictured) has been disqualified from nursing for a year after she stole masks and other PPE during the Covid pandemic.
The Western Australian nurse asked them to block the view of other staff while she removed the PPE from an equipment cart and put it in her bag.
He also stole PPE from a warehouse and placed them in the pockets of his students’ uniforms.
The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia was notified of Burwood’s actions once she was arrested and charged with one count of theft.
Burwood was found guilty of stealing 15 masks, a handful of disposable gloves and 10 alcohol wipes at a WA Magistrates Court hearing.
The board referred her to the State Administrative Court, who found Burwood engaged in professional misconduct and ordered her registration to be canceled and she is disqualified from applying for registration for 12 months.
The nation was in the midst of a PPE shortage when Burwood took 15 masks, disposable gloves and 10 alcohol wipes (file image)