7 other nurses disciplined
Seven of the eight cases involved drugs.
The board last Wednesday placed the registered nurse license of Amanda Alarcon, of Shelton, on probation for four years after discovering that she had been using heroin from 2011 to 2014.
It determined that Alarcon’s drug use “affects her practice as a nurse.”
Maura Downes, director of Communications for the Connecticut Department of Public Health, provided the Herald with the terms of Alarcon’s probationary terms which are as follows:
Alarcon will voluntarily attend therapy and counseling at her own expense, until or if the therapist rules that it is no longer necessary.
She may not use any drugs or alcohol unless prescribed/recommended to her by a licensed health care professional that is licensed to prescribe medication. Alarcon is also subject to random drug screenings for the duration of her four year probationary period. She is also responsible for alerting the laboratory, her therapist, the board and department should she be prescribed any medication for more than two consecutive weeks.
Alarcon must attend an average of 10 anonymous support meetings a month, and provide quarterly reports to the board proving her attendance.
Alarcon’s probationary agreement states that any violation of its terms without written approval from the board can result in the department seeking revocation of her RN license where she will have the opportunity to be heard.
If Alarcon practices nursing outside of the state during her probation period she must provide written notice to the department regarding that employment.
Seven other nurses disciplined
The board also revoked the RN license of Lisa Fabrizio, formerly from Monroe, after it confirmed that she had been stealing jewelry from patients and computers from her place of employment, Lighthouse Home Health Care in Old Saybrook.
Connecticut’s Health I-Team reported that Fabrizio had also been trading the stolen goods for heroin. Stratford police arrested Fabrizio and charged her with third-degree larceny in June 2016, after a detective confirmed she was pawning stolen items in local shops.
The board found that her abuse of heroin was “affecting her practice as a nurse and that her thefts constituted a failure to conform to the standards of the nursing profession,” according to an article published by Connecticut’s Health I-Team.
The Health I-Team also reported that the board revoked the RN license of Adrian Kozikowski of New Britain because “state records show he left a shift in July at Autumn Lake Healthcare in New Britain and fell asleep or lost consciousness due to drug use.”
According to the Health I-Team, between April and July, Kozikowski abused alcohol, marijuana and ecstasy.
The board also revoked the license of Dorsey Saunders, a licensed practical nurse from Bridgeport, for failing to comply with the terms of a four-year probation imposed in March 2016, according to reports by the Health I-Team.
Probation was ordered after Saunders was found stealing drugs, including oxycodone and fentanyl, while on duty at Fairview of Fairfield, a nursing home in the Southport section of Fairfield, according to the Health I-Team.
The Health I-Team reported that the board also took the following action against four other nurses.
The board imposed a two-year probation on the RN license of Jessica Carlson of Middletown. The Health I-Team reported that while working at MidState Medical Center in Meriden, Carlson took the opioid Dilaudid for her own use in 2011 and 2012.
The Health I-Team reported that Carlson also abused Dilaudid from 2011 to 2014, and while working at the Water’s Edge Center for Health & Rehabilitation in Middletown, she took controlled substances and failed to document medical records.