What Happened
A nurse diverted opioids from two different Boston-area hospitals across a span of years, starting while she was still a student nurse.
In August 2018, she was a student nurse working at a Boston-area hospital when she stole and self-injected fentanyl, later admitting the theft to hospital investigators. Two years later, while employed at a different Boston-area hospital, she stole an infusion bag containing fentanyl that was actively being used to treat a patient. On another occasion in 2020 at the same hospital, she took multiple syringes of hydromorphone from a locked drug cabinet.
She was charged by information in September 2022 and pleaded guilty to four counts of unlawfully obtaining controlled substances by fraud, deception, and subterfuge. The charges carry up to four years in prison, one year of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000; sentencing was scheduled for February 2023.
What Went Wrong
- An earlier admitted theft didn't stop a return to patient-facing work. She admitted diverting fentanyl as a student nurse in 2018 yet was later employed with controlled-substance access at another hospital.
- Stealing directly from an active patient infusion is a severe, high-risk method. Taking a bag already connected for a patient's treatment risks immediate under-medication and possible harm.
- A locked drug cabinet wasn't a sufficient barrier. Multiple syringes of hydromorphone were removed from locked storage without apparent immediate detection.
How It Could Have Been Prevented
- Establish information-sharing practices — consistent with applicable law — so hospitals can flag documented diversion admissions when a clinician's licensure or employment history is checked by a new employer.
- Require immediate reconciliation whenever an in-use patient infusion bag goes missing or is found disconnected, rather than only auditing at scheduled intervals.
- Log and review every locked-cabinet access event against actual patient administration records to catch withdrawals that don't correspond to a charted dose.
- Screen nursing students and new graduate hires for documented diversion incidents as part of standard credentialing, not just criminal background checks.
Related Guidance
- Employee Screening & Fitness for Duty — Credentialing checks for diversion history across employers.
- 15 Red Flags of Drug Diversion — Access-log and administration-record reconciliation red flags.
- Hospital Diversion Prevention Checklist — Controls for locked-cabinet access and infusion accountability.
- More Diversion Case Studies — Additional multi-facility nurse diversion cases.