Fake Sydney nurse convicted

A Sydney woman who worked as a nurse at a medical centre despite not being qualified or registered to practise has been convicted at the Windsor Local Court of New South Wales.

Belinda Elwell, also known as Belinda Raynor and Belinda Wilson, was offered a position as a registered nurse at the centre in October 2020 after completing an unrelated placement there. Despite not being qualified or registered to practise, she informed the centre that she was a registered nurse.

She accepted this position and worked 14 shifts between October and December 2020. While working as a nurse at the centre, she attended to patients’ dressings, took blood samples, administered immunisations and vaccinations by injection and performed ECGs.

When asked to provide evidence of her registration, Elwell provided a false registration number on a ‘sticky’ note. This number does not exist on the Register of nurses. She resigned on 8 December 2020 after the centre requested a copy of her Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia’s (NMBA) registration certificate. She continued to insist she was a registered nurse.

Ahpra charged Elwell with 16 counts of holding herself out as being registered in breach of section 116 of the National Law.

When Elwell failed to appear, the Magistrate convicted her of all charges and issued a conviction warrant for her to be arrested and brought before the court for sentencing.

Ahpra keeps a public register of every health practitioner who is registered to practise in Australia in the 16 health professions regulated under the National Law, including nurses. Employers are encouraged to check the public register online to verify the registration of their staff.

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