Nurse abandoned child patient for a week in Florida, faked timecard, got fired, kept license
All the details in our Health Safety stories come from publicly available Final Orders, Consent Orders, Orders of Suspension and other documents from the Virginia Department of Health Professionals. For more information, see the Editor’s note below the story.
Most people might expect a medical professional would lose their license if they abandoned their 7-year-old patient so they could vacation in Florida for Spring Break and tried to cover it up. Unfortunately, they would be wrong.
That’s exactly what Petersburg-based practical nurse Shadreka Johnson did in April 2022.
Johnson — who at the time was working at Mid-Atlantic Health — was entrusted to take care of a 7-year-old patient with a gastric tube who required regular blood sugar monitoring. As a licensed practical nurse, Johnson knew that the young patient needed her consistent and careful supervision. That didn’t stop her from ditching the youngster for a trip to Florida.
Before she left for Florida, Johnson had her patient’s mother pre-sign her timesheet for April 2 to April 8 so that it looked like she was taking diligent care of her patient during those dates — without telling the mother that she wouldn’t be. Instead, she left for a week-long vacation. When she came back, she submitted the falsified timesheet to her employer, alongside detailed fraudulent nursing notes of her patient’s vital signs and health assessments.
When Mid-Atlantic found out, they fired Johnson. She applied for another job with Maxim Healthcare and once again violated Virginia code when she did not disclose her prior employment with Mid-Atlantic or the reason she was fired.
The Board of Nursing reprimanded Johnson and directed her to take a course on professional accountability and legal liability for nurses, a course on ethics and professionalism in nursing and a course on proper documentation.
There were no fines. Johnson completed the three courses required of her and promised not to do it again. The board allowed her to keep her license and in a letter dated Sep. 26, 2023 wished her well in her future endeavors.
Her license remains in "Current Active" status, and expires 11/30/2025.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: When citizens are a danger to the public safety, law enforcement arrests them and charges them with crimes; they have the opportunity to face a jury of their peers; if convicted, they serve time and/or probation that can often ensnare them in the system for years.
When a medical professional is an alleged danger to the public safety, the Virginia Department of Health Professionals handles all facets of the inquiry, including the investigation and penalties. And sometimes, even when a medical professional is found liable of doing harm to patients, they may face a reprimand, pay a fine and continue to practice, without missing a day of work and with little chance for the public to see what they’ve done.
The Health Safety stories in this series tell the facts of cases where medical professionals endanger our public health safety. They also bring you into the world of the medical board’s consent orders and public final orders, so you can see exactly how the VDHP’s self-policing system works.
LINKS TO DOCUMENTS REFERENCED ABOVE:
This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Petersburg practical nurse faked timecard to go to Florida, leaving child patient without care
