Oxford, Mississippi – Amanda Peloquin was arrested in her house last Friday. The woman is a certificated nursing assistant at the Brookdale Eddy Pond East senior living facility, based in Auburn. According to the police department, Peloquin replaced a patient’s pain medication with aspirins.
Even though there are no details on what was her motive, Auburn police department charged Amanda Peloquin, 46, with larceny of drugs and larceny from a building, which are categorized as crimes against property and the penalty varies depending on the worth of the object taken. If she is found guilty, she could face a minimum of 3 months in jail with $500 in fines up to 1 year in jail and fines up to $2,000.
The woman has been working for the institution since 2010 and a detective involved in the investigation stated the woman could have started stealing the medicine back in 2014. Which would greatly impact the worth of the stolen goods. Peloquin first appeared on the radar on March this year when the patient’s son reported the pain medication had been replaced with aspirins. She is scheduled to appear in Worcester District Court next Monday.
“Because of the demanding and stressful nature of the job, many nurses have fallen in the trap of substance abuse,” reads an article on nurses with drug addictions.
There are lots of factors that make nurses opt for drug abuse. Being a nurse is stressful. They have very long shifts in which they take care of the sick and weak. Aides spend a lot of time taking care of this kind of patients and even the most experienced are sometimes affected when they die. They also have easy access to medication and keeping track of every single one of them at every hour is virtually impossible. According to the article, 1 out of every 10 nurses working in the United States is addicted to an illegal or controlled substance.
Specialists suggest people working in this environment to always notify any suspicious activity. Medical centers usually have drug and alcohol treatment programs for employees.
Source: Boston Globe