When the relationship ended, he had a brief sexual relationship with another man, whose records he also accessed without permission.
The tribunal found he was guilty of malpractice and conduct likely to bring disrepute to the nursing profession.
The man was censured, suspended from nursing for one month after he returns from an overseas trip and he was to attend a training course regarding ethics, cultural safety and power imbalance.
He was also ordered to pay 50% in costs.
From June 25, 2021, to June 26, 2024, while employed as a registered nurse, the man inappropriately accessed his ex-partner’s medical records 10 times while he was not under his care.
He had been a nurse for 10 years and worked at two medical centres.
He was with his then-partner for a year, so accessed the man’s records during and after the relationship ended.
About a year and a half after the relationship ended he had a sexual relationship with a man he met on Grindr. He went to the man’s address.
Following this interaction, he inappropriately accessed this man’s medical records while he was not under his care.
While searching through the man’s medical records, he realised the man’s address was the same as his ex-partner’s and they were each other’s next of kin and they were now in a relationship.
The nurse was told by a doctor at the practice where he worked not to access the man’s records again. Despite this, he did.
On one occasion he contacted the man by phone for healthcare-related purposes, despite there being a conflict of interest.
He failed to disclose or address the conflict of interest, even when asked by doctors if he knew the men.
“At the time of the events I blurred the boundaries between my personal life and professional role,” the nurse told the tribunal.
He said he’d struggled with his sexuality for some time. His mother died and he said he had navigated his sexuality without support.
Because of stigma and the fact same-sex marriage is illegal in the country he is from, he has been unable to discuss his sexuality with his father, who does not yet know he is gay.
This meant publication of his name would cause him and his family distress. He was also concerned the area he lived in had a small LGBTQI+ community, which could lead to the identification of his former partner.
“Ideally I want to come out to my father at a time I feel is appropriate. If the publication of my name is a way of outing myself to a father that would take that right away from me.”
The tribunal granted him name suppression.
The nurse told the tribunal that since the offending he has completed further training and become more aware of identifying and managing conflicts of interest.
“I was not fully truthful; this was out of fear and shame,” he said.
“I regret this lack of honesty.”
This had taught him significant lessons and he had not had any further complaints since the offending, he said.
Brianna McIlraith is a Queenstown-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the lower South Island. She has been a journalist since 2018 and has had a strong interest in business and financial journalism.
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