Nurse banned over relationship with mental health patient she kissed and took to Canberra escape room | New South Wales

A nurse has been banned after becoming intimate with a vulnerable mental health patient, taking her to an escape room, sending thousands of calls and messages and being seen kissing her.

Dilnoor Kang, a nurse at a mental health unit in Wagga Wagga in regional NSW, was found guilty on Friday of professional misconduct and lying about it to various health authorities over her years-long relationship.

Kang was part of the young patient’s care team when he was hospitalized for suicidal and homicidal ideation in early 2021 and psychosis in 2022. NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal decision.

In mid-2021, Kang booked the couple a trip to The Riddle Room escape rooms in Canberra, and throughout 2022 they were seen kissing and cuddling at her home or in her car.

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He exchanged up to 5,000 messages and calls with her over the course of a year.

In 2022, while she was being treated for acute psychosis, Kang unexpectedly visited her in the hospital while she was off duty and became emotional while talking to her.

The patient, known as Patient A, told another nurse that he felt like Kang was “playing with his head.”

In January 2024, police were called after the patient slapped Kang in the face during an argument at his home. Both told officers they were in a relationship.

Murrumbidgee Local Health District launched an investigation into Kang and terminated his employment in September 2023.

She voluntarily surrendered her nursing registration in mid-2024.

The case was referred to the Healthcare Complaints Commission, which urged the court to find him guilty of professional misconduct and formally cancel his registration.

At different stages of the case, Kang admitted to the intimate relationship but later offered to recant, including allegations of kissing.

He repeatedly insisted that the patient was “a very good friend.”

Kang said he believed that the patient was communicating with another man he met online when he exchanged thousands of messages and phone calls with her, and claimed that the court found this situation “unreasonable”.

The court ruled that Kang gave false or misleading testimony when she denied a close relationship with the local health district and told the nursing council that she did not have the patient’s cell phone number.

Although the court was called upon to find that the relationship was sexual, it ruled that this was unnecessary as the evidence gave a “clear picture” of inappropriate intimacy.

“We are satisfied that the nature and gravity of the practitioner’s professional misconduct was objectively serious,” its decision said.

“It happened over a few years.

“The risk of harm to a mental health patient under these circumstances is extremely high.”

Kang was disqualified for two years.

• In Australia, the crisis support service is Lifeline 13 11 14. In the United States, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In the UK, Samaritans can be reached on 116 123. Other international suicide helplines can be found at: befrienders.org