A former Tasmanian nurse has had her registration cancelled after a tribunal found she falsely claimed qualifications when applying for paramedic and senior nursing jobs.
In a decision handed down last week, the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (TASCAT) found Lauren Elizabeth Butler engaged in professional misconduct between 2020 and 2023.
Butler worked as a registered nurse in the emergency department at the Launceston General Hospital and volunteered with Ambulance Tasmania.
The tribunal found she applied for graduate paramedic roles with Ambulance Tasmania three times between December 2020 and March 2023.
In each application, she claimed to hold a paramedicine qualification from Charles Sturt University and to be registered or seeking registration as a paramedic.
The tribunal found she had not completed the course and had never held general registration as a paramedic.
It found she submitted false registration receipt numbers, an altered invoice from the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and a falsified university transcript to support her applications.
In 2023, she also claimed to hold a postgraduate critical care nursing qualification she did not have when applying for two senior nursing roles at the hospital.
During a Department of Health investigation, Butler claimed a transcript had come from a “malware email” and that the errors were “honest mistakes”. She later gave AHPRA similar explanations.
“I would not have applied for the role if I had realised I would not have the necessary registration/qualification for that role,” she said.
The tribunal rejected her explanations as “misleading” and “not credible”.
Butler resigned from the department after being asked to explain why her employment should not be terminated.
The tribunal also found that, on the morning of a required AHPRA interview, Butler told the investigator she was in hospital and could not attend.
The tribunal found she then supplied a fraudulent medical certificate. The hospital had no record of her attending and the doctor named on it had not worked there for around two years.
She later failed to attend a second interview without explanation.
Senior TASCAT member Samuel Thompson said her attempts to mislead investigators increased the need for deterrence.
“The infamous phrase – it’s not the crime, it’s the coverup – is apposite,” he said.
Butler, who now lives in New Zealand, did not take part in the proceedings.
The tribunal reprimanded her and cancelled her registration, which had been suspended since June 21, 2023.
She cannot apply for reinstatement for three years and must not provide any health services until she is re-registered.
Butler was also ordered to pay the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia’s costs.
The tribunal said it had no information on whether she had been charged with criminal offences such as forgery or uttering.
