A Sydney nurse has been deregistered after he masturbated in front of a dementia patient at an aged care facility.
Arnold Bulwayan Alunday, 48, from Ropes Crossing in Blacktown, masturbated in front of the 70-year-old dementia patient after turning the lights off and closing the curtains to her private room, a tribunal has heard.
The Health Care Complaints Commission heard Alunday ‘took advantage’ of that fact she would have either not remembered or not been believed if she reported the incident.
The Civil and Administrative Tribunal heard how Alunday had taken the patient, who suffers from early-onset dementia, away from a movie night with another resident to go to the bathroom in her private room.
He then laid her down on her bed before taking off his pants and underwear and started masturbating in full view of the patient.
Alunday was caught by a female colleague who reported the incident in August, 2023.
The Health Care Complaints Commission told the tribunal how, after being caught, Alunday wouldn’t cooperate with the investigation and ‘immediately’ found work with another aged care provider as a registered nurse.
No criminal charges were laid, but the tribunal cancelled Alunday’s registration with a non-review period of three years.
He was also banned from providing any health service during that time.
‘The Respondent took to avoid detection of his behaviour, such as closing the curtains, turning off the lights and performing the act in a private setting when he was aware that [his female colleague] was tending to another patient, and the other AIN on shift was on break,’ the commission told the tribunal.
‘These steps, make it clear that [Alunday] knew what he was doing was wrong.’
The tribunal heard Alunday admitted his ‘wrongdoing’ to the Nursing and Midwifery Council and said he knew it was ‘really serious’ and ‘something which a staff member should not do’.
But the Commission told the tribunal he had not demonstrated any remorse or consideration to how the patient would have felt during the incident.
‘His evidence given to the council was focused upon his own misfortunes, his family,’ the commission said.
‘The conduct has a real potential to erode public confidence in the nursing profession.’
The facility where the incident took place was not named to protect the patient’s identity.
Alunday migrated to in June 2011 from the Philippines and gained a Bachelor of Nursing from Western Sydney University in 2023.
He was registered as a nurse in in March, 2023.
Alunday’s LinkedIn page says he’s employed by n Unity as an assistant in nursing.
But the organisation told news.com.au he left in April 2020.