Nurse permanently barred from practice after sexual misconduct
A nurse who sexually assaulted two women at an abortion clinic in Heemstede has been permanently banned from practicing medicine in the Netherlands. The disciplinary tribunal for healthcare in Amsterdam ruled that the man repeatedly overstepped professional boundaries, prompting a lifetime ban and his removal from the national healthcare worker registry.
The incidents occurred in April 2020 while the nurse was employed at the clinic. During follow-up examinations for two women who had undergone abortions, he conducted invasive procedures under the guise of routine care. The tribunal determined that he violated medical protocols by inserting his fingers into the women without medical justification during post-abortion checks, which typically involve palpating the abdomen and inspecting menstrual pads for blood loss.
After being dismissed from the clinic, the man was hired by an ambulance service, where he continued to display dangerous and unprofessional behavior. He drove ambulances without the required license, deviated from assigned routes, abandoned a patient, and performed medical procedures he was not authorized to conduct, including the improper insertion of a gastric tube. He also committed traffic violations while driving ambulances, took a vehicle home without permission, and left it unlocked at a car wash.
The tribunal also reviewed his actions as a civilian first responder, where he endangered patients by using uncertified equipment, including a second-hand heart monitor of unknown reliability. Police filed a report after several incidents in which the nurse performed high-risk treatments that were not permitted in those situations.
In 2021, the court in Noord-Holland sentenced the man to six months in prison, three of which were suspended, for the sexual misconduct at the abortion clinic. He was also banned from working in healthcare for three years. The man appealed the verdict, but the court upheld the sentence. The case is currently under review by the Hoge Raad, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands.
The healthcare tribunal concluded that the nurse's repeated violations of professional and ethical standards posed a severe risk to patient safety. As a result, the tribunal issued the strongest possible sanction: a lifetime prohibition from practicing in any healthcare capacity.
