This story is all kinds of weird and I am sure it will be the subject of much debate within the nursing industry. Amber Van Brunt was a hospice nurse having an affair with her terminally ill patient Chris Reiter who died in May 2010 of Lou Gehrig’s disease. Prior to his death, Reiter claimed he was seduced by Van Brunt, however, Van Brunt claims the relationship is mutually consensual and that the sexual contact occurred when she was off duty although the Oklahoma nursing board claims to have evidence that some sexual contact happened during the course of working hours. According to the board, it doesn’t matter when the encounters took place, they were ethically wrong and believe that Van Brunt took advantage of a terminally ill man.
In March, Reiter had tried to commit suicide after receiving a text from Van Brunt claiming she was pregnant by another man. The affair was discovered after Reiter’s wife found explicit e-mails on the computer between Van Brunt and Chris Reiter. On March 9th, weeks before his death, Chris Reiter signed a statement that said “Amber Van Brunt had inappropriate contact with me multiple times during regular hours nursing visits.” A lawsuit was filed against the agency for which Van Brunt worked but was later dropped.
Based upon their findings, the Oklahoma nursing board has suspended Van Brunt’s nurses license for a total of 20 years for the ethical violations. The board’s position is that Van Brunt was the professional in this case and that sex with any client is unethical, consensual or not.
Van Brunt describes the loss of her license as a “gross miscarriage of justice”, and is fighting for reinstatement.
I’m interested in hearing what you think, is a consensual affair between a patient and their nurse unethical and grounds for suspension of license?
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