Nurse Loses License Over Affair With Dying Patient

Bad idea: Having sex with a married man. Worse idea: Having sex with a married man who also happens to be your hospice patient. A nurse has lost her license for 20 years after admitting to doing just that, the Oklahoman reports. Amber Van Brunt, 33, is appealing the Oklahoma Nursing Board’s order and insists she should not be disciplined because the relationship with Chris Reiter, 43, was consensual and conducted on her own time, not while she was on duty.

Van Brunt began caring for the wheelchair-bound Reiter, who suffered from Lou Gehrig’s disease, in November 2009. In March, after Van Brunt told him she was pregnant with another man’s baby, Reiter attempted suicide. Soon after the attempt, his wife discovered messages between nurse and patient on his computer; Van Brunt called him “sexy” and “lover,” he called her “babe.” Days later, Reiter signed a type statement claiming Van Brunt seduced him. Reiter died May 21; his wife claims he starved himself to death.
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