A man has been fined over $60,000 for “holding out” as a registered nurse, after working as a Director of Nursing at a Victorian Aged Care facility.
Magistrate Starvaggi convicted the man of four counts of holding out as a registered nurse while both seeking employment and practicing as a registered nurse. The man had pled guilty to these charges under the National Law.
The man had never been registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) and does not have any qualifications as a nurse.
Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) CEO Martin Fletcher welcomed the court’s action, and indicated AHPRA’s continued work in prosecuting the unlawful use of protected titles and claims to registration.
“We want to be clear that the work we do is paramount to public safety,” Fletcher said.
The Magistrate noted that, had new penalties been applicable to the man’s case, imprisonment may have been considered.