On the 15th day of February year 2014, Emily MacGreggor, a registered practical nurse

that has been practicing for more than four years was convicted of theft. The nurse was found
and pled guilty on stealing multiple medications such as; 7.5mg of Zopiclone, Antibiotics,
Tylenol, and Lorazepam. The said nurse admitted that she provided these medications for her
partner (boyfriend) who was sick with pneumonia at the time. Even though the nurses partner
did not have any prescriptions for Zopiclone, she still insisted him to take the medication.
Zopiclone is a Central Nervous System depressant that makes a person drowsy and less alert.
This medication is used to treat insomnia (mayoclinic.org). On further investigation of the
College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO), on the working day shift of the nurse on December 1, 2011,
several text messages were exchanged between the nurse and her partner. They were talking
about how Zopiclone would help her partner to sleep well and feel better so that he could go to
work the next day. The nurses partner even asked if he should take antibiotic, Tylenol, and a
teaspoon of cough syrup all at the same time. The nurse agreed and added that he should take
some extra serotonin pills with the said medications. Six days after the nurse had the
conversation with her partner, October 7, 2011, the nurse had a dinner with her partner and
suddenly her partner was experiencing a shortness of breath. They then went to a walk-in clinic
and he was diagnosed with bronchitis and prescribed Biaxin. The very next day, December 8,
2011, the nurses partner was found dead in his hotel room. An empty labelled bag of medication
with a lot number registered from the facility where the nurse work was found at the scene.
Therefore as a result of the incident, the CNO panel finds that the nurse was found guilty of theft
under $5,000 contrary to criminal code from stealing at the work place. She further contravened
the standard of practice relating to medication administration by providing Zopiclone without
physicians order. The nurses certificate was suspended for only four months because she

cooperated with the CNO and pleaded guilty. I agree to the panels decision because the penalty
satisfies the principles of specific and general deterrence, rehabilitation and remediation, while
protecting the public.
MacGreggors case is very sensitive and unacceptable to the nursing profession. A lot of
ethical values in Practice Standards of the College of nurses of Ontario were breached and one of
them is maintaining commitments to the nursing profession. It is not easy to become a nurse. It
takes time and a lot of effort to become one of them. Since the beginning of nursing school,
nurses are committed to work and study hard to get their diploma or degree. Nurses are taught in
school that being a member of the nursing profession brings the respect and trust of the public
(CNO, 2008). In general, stealing is unethical and unacceptable in the society. MacGreggors
action of stealing medication from the facility was very unprofessional and showed that she was
less competent and does not implement accountability for her actions and behaviour. Just
because of stealing medications and administering them without physicians order; she lost her
job, got her license suspended for four months, fined $5,000 penalty cost for the stolen
medications, and killed someone. As a nurse, you have to think before you execute your actions.
Nurses should maintain professionalism, accountability, and passion to the profession because all
of the hard work and sacrifices they have done could dissolve in just one unethical action.
Another ethical value that was contravened by MacGreggor is maintaining commitment to
quality practice setting. Nurses are best able to provide quality of care when their environment
supports quality professional nursing practice (CNO, 2008). The most important part of
maintaining commitment to the quality of practice setting is respecting and following the policies
and philosophy of the facility. MacGreggor breached this value by breaking the rule and simply
being dishonest for stealing medications. As a nurse, you have to report anything that is

suspicious in the facility. You have to be honest to the authority and make them aware of any
concerns in the facility. Every actions that you make as a nurse should be documented properly.
Documentation is used to monitor clients situation and communicate with other care providers
(CNO, 2008). Also signing off every medication that is given helps the authorities to monitor all
the medications in the facility. Last ethical value that was breached by MacGreggor is fairness.
Fairness means allocating health care resources on the basis of objective health-related factors
(CNO, 2008). Medication in the setting should be given only to the patients that are admitted to
the facility. These medications are funded by the government only for the patients and not for
people outside the facility. This value is contravened by MacGreggor because she took several
medications to provide her partners need without informing the facility. It is unfair to all the
patients in the facility that other people are consuming their medications that are funded by the
government specifically just for them.
There are several strategies to prevent this kind of scenario from happening again. Nurses
working in any clinical setting must always abide by their companys policy and local procedure
concerning the correct administration of medicines (Ashurst, 2005). One strategy that could
minimize medicine theft is providing modern and more secure medicine carts. One example is a
pyxis medcarts made by an American brand Carefusion. Pyxis is a state-of-the-art technology
that can resolve complex medication problem with efficient and cost-effective solutions. Pyxis
technologies automate processes to save time and help ensure nurses have the medications and
supplies they need, when needed. In order to have access to these medication, a nurse must sign
in with his or her ID with a fingerprint scan (Carefusion.com, 2014). Fingerprint sign in is the
most secure feature of this modern medicine cart. Everyone has a different fingerprint and only
one nurse can sign in at a time unlike the old medicine carts where everyone has the access by

just using keys. Pyxis is also connected to a domain that monitor the usage of the machine. It
counts how many times a nurse opened the cart and which medication he or she is taking. It also
helps pharmacists to monitor medicines that are being used in order for them to refill the med
carts. Because of pyxis, it is easier to monitor suspicious action of nurses. Another feature of this
modern medicine cart is that it would not let a nurse take any narcotics without signing in
another nurse as a witness (Carefusion.com, 2014). It is very important to use another nurse as a
witness so that there is a proof that he or she is really giving the ordered medication to the
patient. In my own experience, I have witnessed the importance of these modern medicine carts
and their features. In my second semester clinical setting, everyone has the access of medicine
carts because it can only be opened by keys. Unlike in my present clinical setting, they have
pyxis and only one nurse can open the cart at a time. These modern medicine carts avoid
confusions, less medication error, high security, and more efficient. According to Agency for
Healthcare research and quality, studies show that automated dispensing devices such as pyxis
reduce medication errors and theft for 45% since 2002 to 2007 (Borel & Rascati, 2008). It is
important that nurses keep themselves up to date with all medications that are in use throughout
the care to prevent medication error and theft (Ashurst, 2005).
Another strategy to prevent medication error and theft is providing a monthly meeting or
conference of health care providers in the facility discussing medication administration and
policy of the clinical setting. Reviewing the policy of the facility helps the nurses to maintain the
professional standards and to contribute for public protection (CNO, 2008). Conference is
necessary to know all the needs, issues, and problems of nurses and other health care providers in
the facility. It is easier to distinguish the areas to develop in the facility such as medication
errors. Discussing medication administration of the floor manager to every nurse can also help

distinguish if they are breaching the code of professional misconduct. Nurses are personally
accountable for their practice. This means that every action they make can contribute or harm to
the public (CNO, 2008). To reduce medication error and theft, nurses must be aware of the
actions of their colleagues. If they find any suspicious action by one of their colleagues, they
must report it right away to the manager of the facility. In MacGreggors case, none of her
colleagues even bother her to ask what she does with the medication that she took out from the
medicine cart. It is important for nurses to look out for one another to prevent this misconduct to
happen. It is also important for the nurses and managers to double check if the medications are
signed for the time of administration. There should be no excuses for not signing the medicine
record sheet. Also during the discussion of medication administration, Nurses should be
frequently tested on their knowledge of drugs in common use within the facility. It is important
to know the use of the drugs to protect the public in harm. Administering wrong medication can
lead to death just like what happened to MacGreggors partner.
Emily MacGreggor, a registered practical nurse was convicted of theft by the College of
nurses of Ontario. She pleaded guilty of stealing medications such as; Zopiclone, Lorazepam,
Tylenol, and Antibiotics. She stole these medication and administered to her boyfriend that was
diagnosed with pneumonia without any prescription of physician. One week after the continuous
administration of the said medicines, her boyfriend was found dead in his hotel room. Several
ethical values were contravened with her action. First is maintaining commitment to nursing
profession, she breached this value because she did not even maintain professionalism and
accountability for her action. Stealing is considered unethical and a big misconduct in nursing
profession. Next is maintaining commitment to practice setting, she contravened this value
because she did not follow the policy and guideline of the facility. She was being completely

dishonest for taking medication without informing the facility. Last ethical value that she
breached is fairness. It is unfair for the patients in the facility that other people are taking
advantage for the medications that are specifically funded by the government for them. Therefore
to prevent this situation on recurring again, I suggested that the nursing facility should fund more
modern and secure medication carts and provide monthly conference between health care
providers in the facility discussing medication administration and policy of the clinical setting.
These interventions that I suggested can decrease medication error and theft to every clinical
setting because it improves security and maintain information to the health care team.