An emergency department nurse working in one of Perth’s metropolitan hospitals has been sacked and had her nursing registration cancelled after she was found to have been high on meth and cannabis three times while working.
Chrissy Louise Green was employed on a temporary contract when two colleagues reported her for smelling of marijuana during a shift in July 2024.
On the day in question, the unit manager confronted Green regarding reports made by two staff members and informed her she was required to undergo drug and alcohol screening. Green immediately admitted she would fail the test, confessing to the recreational use of cannabis and methamphetamines during her annual leave, as well as smoking cannabis the previous night.
While tests confirmed amphetamines, methamphetamines, and cannabinoids in Green’s sample, further investigation uncovered a pattern of behaviour.
A year earlier she had been arrested for speeding in an unregistered vehicle. On that occasion, a roadside test conducted only 20 minutes after her night shift ended proved she was under the influence of both meth and cannabis; despite this, she returned to work for her next shift just 13 hours later.
Green was later fined in Perth Magistrates Court but did not inform the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia of the conviction.
Documents published by the State Administrative Tribunal this week also show the nurse was stopped by WA Police in Rockingham a month before she was fired, where a breath test again came up positive for meth and cannabis. She was again charged and fined.
A month after she lost her job, she was at her partner’s house when police arrived with a search warrant. At the home they found two bongs and a meth pipe that Green admitted to using just before they got there.
She was arrested again and charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.
Green, who had been a nurse for 14 years, was arrested again last April after she was found trespassing by police in a house in Orelia.
Records show she was cautioned in 2013 after she stole a box of 48 diazepam 5mg tablets from a hospital where she was employed as a nurse.
Green told the Tribunal her conduct was a result of a deterioration in her mental health while she was experiencing personal issues outside of work.
She now works as a cleaner and has sought to address her health issues by attempting to engage in relevant health and drug rehabilitation services.
The Tribunal cancelled her nursing registration and banned her from re-applying for six months.
She was also ordered to pay $2500 in costs.
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