Woman Dressed Like Nurse Steals Patients' Pain Medication

A woman who impersonated a nurse in an attempt to steal pain medication from patients’ rooms at the Swedish Medical Center is still at large, according to The Seattle Times.

Seattle police said the woman entered the rooms as if she were simply a staff member checking patient-administered, pain-medication machines.

The woman is white and described as being either in her 30s or 40s with blond hair. At the time she was dressed in a blue blouse, black pants and blacks that, according to The Seattle Times, were similar to nursing scrubs.

In the first reported theft, which took place the morning of April 13, a patient asked what the woman what she was doing. In response, the patient said the woman left the room saying she would get his real nurse.

When the nurse arrived, she found the patient’s pain-medication line had been cut and that the drug was leaking onto the floor. There were marks on the machine where it had been pried open.

Shortly afterward, a woman of a similar description was reported looking into patients’ rooms on another floor. Once again she was asked what she was doing, though this time the woman said she was checking the pain-medication machines.

The woman then proceeded to walk into yet another room, this time where relatives were visiting. Witnesses told the police the woman fiddled with the machine and promptly left when an alarm went off, though not before cutting the line to the pain-medication machine, which left blood dripping on the floor.

In all, the woman is believed to have stolen roughly 2 feet of tubing though, according to The Seattle times, a nurse told the police that even if these tubes were full, they are so small that the woman wouldn’t have gotten away with much medication.

The police said they were not informed of the incident until April 17. Ed Boyle, the center’s spokesman, said it is investigating the case along with the delay in reporting.