{"id":54942,"date":"2025-11-21T00:58:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T00:58:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/54942\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T00:58:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T00:58:07","slug":"fort-pierce-nurse-charged-with-stealing-pain-meds-meant-for-patients-at-hca-hospital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/54942\/","title":{"rendered":"Fort Pierce nurse charged with stealing pain meds meant for patients at HCA hospital"},"content":{"rendered":"

FORT PIERCE, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 For the second time this year, an HCA Florida nurse in South Florida has been arrested on accusations of stealing narcotics meant for patients \u2014 this time at Lawnwood Hospital in Fort Pierce, according to newly released court records.<\/p>\n

\"Nichole<\/p>\n

Nichole Spruitenburg, 38, of Port St. Lucie, was booked into the St. Lucie County Jail on Nov. 16 after being extradited from Marquette, Michigan. Investigators say the Lawnwood Hospital nurse repeatedly stole pain medications and diluted doses intended for patients. (WPEC)<\/p>\n

Nichole Spruitenburg, 38, of Port St. Lucie, was booked into the St. Lucie County Jail on Nov. 16 after being extradited from Marquette, Michigan. Investigators say the Lawnwood Hospital nurse repeatedly stole pain medications and diluted doses intended for patients.<\/p>\n

Spruitenburg is charged with 13 counts of possession of a controlled substance without a prescription and 13 counts of grand theft of a controlled substance. Her bond is set at $130,000.<\/p>\n

HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital provided the following statement to CBS12 News:<\/p>\n

HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital has safeguards in place to ensure medications are administered and accounted for properly. These safeguards helped our team identify the possible diversion. We notified law enforcement and assisted with their investigation. The individual is no longer employed at our facility. We remain fully committed to preventing drug diversion and will continue to work with state and federal authorities to support prosecution and appropriate licensure actions when necessary, upholding the highest standards of care and professional conduct.<\/p>\n

According to the St. Lucie County Sheriff\u2019s Office, the investigation began Sept. 9 when Lawnwood\u2019s pharmacy manager reported concerns about \u201ca nurse diverting medication\u201d after a vial of morphine was found on top of a computer in the Observation Unit.<\/p>\n

The hospital initiated an internal audit, uncovering discrepancies in Spruitenburg\u2019s medication withdrawals from the Pyxis dispensing system.<\/p>\n

Detectives wrote in the affidavit that surveillance footage shows Spruitenburg stealing vials of morphine, lorazepam and hydromorphone on 14 occasions between June and September.<\/p>\n

In each incident, they say she withdrew medication intended for patients, then created a fake \u201cwaste\u201d syringe filled with saline or sink water to show another nurse before pocketing the actual controlled substance.<\/p>\n

Hospital pharmacy investigators estimate she took at least 24 mg of morphine, 2.5 mg of lorazepam and 2 mg of hydromorphone during that period.<\/p>\n

\"On<\/p>\n

On Sept. 10, hospital staff obtained a written note from Spruitenburg in which she appears to admit bringing home medication that was supposed to be discarded. In the note, she wrote she did it \u201cto help deal with my wife\u2019s pain unable to be met due to cost,\u201d and acknowledged the behavior was \u201cunprofessional.\u201d (SLCSO)<\/p>\n

On Sept. 10, hospital staff obtained a written note from Spruitenburg in which she appears to admit bringing home medication that was supposed to be discarded. In the note, she wrote she did it \u201cto help deal with my wife\u2019s pain unable to be met due to cost,\u201d and acknowledged the behavior was \u201cunprofessional.\u201d<\/p>\n

Detectives later attempted to reach her at her Port St. Lucie home on Oct. 22. She returned their call, told investigators she had \u201crelinquished\u201d her nursing license and claimed she diluted patients\u2019 medication to keep doses from being \u201ctoo strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

When detectives followed up with Lawnwood\u2019s pharmacy supervisor, they were told that diluting medication with saline is not standard practice at the hospital.<\/p>\n

See also: ‘Unjust Indictment’: Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick responds to indictment of $5M stolen funds<\/a><\/p>\n

A one-year check of Florida\u2019s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program showed Spruitenburg regularly filled prescriptions for oxycodone-acetaminophen and methadone. Records show her wife, Kaitlyn Spruitenburg, also filled monthly oxycodone-acetaminophen prescriptions from late 2024 through early 2025, though there were months where no opioids were dispensed.<\/p>\n

Separate St. Lucie County court records show Kaitlyn is currently out on bond in an unrelated case stemming from a September 2025 arrest, where she is accused of DUI involving drugs and possession of cocaine. Those charges remain pending.<\/p>\n

The North Carolina Board of Nursing \u2014 the state where Spruitenburg most recently held a license \u2014 suspended that license on Nov. 4, 2025, citing discipline.<\/p>\n

This marks the second time this year an HCA Florida nurse in our area has been accused of stealing narcotics on the job.<\/p>\n

In March, an ICU nurse at HCA Florida JFK Hospital in Atlantis was arrested after a patient\u2019s mother <\/a>reported seeing her remove fentanyl from a vial connected to her daughter\u2019s IV line.<\/p>\n

According to that probable cause affidavit, the nurse \u2014 Leah Ann Parra \u2014 added an unknown clear liquid back into the vial. Hospital officials later found syringes and medication vials in her bag, and police said she admitted to taking controlled substances and expressed interest in seeking addiction treatment. Parra was charged with grand theft of a controlled substance and drug possession and later released on bond.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT PIERCE, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 For the second time this year, an HCA Florida nurse in South Florida…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":54943,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172],"class_list":{"0":"post-54942","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-port-st-lucie","8":"tag-port-st-lucie","9":"tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","10":"tag-port-st-lucie-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54942\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}