Nurses Series

A Tribune investigation finds gaps in the regulatory system that keeps nurses convicted of crimes ranging from child abuse to assault out of our hospitals.

Nurse Jeffrey LeMoine stood remorseful in a San Luis Obispo courtroom, waiting to hear his punishment for burning the faces of patients.

Several years after Nipomo nurse Margaret Troutman was licensed in 1986, she began stealing prescription painkillers from Marian Medical Center to feed a drug habit, according to state records.

A flawed method for tracking nurses who break the law isn’t the only loophole in the state’s criminal tracking system, some investigators say.

When trying to keep tabs on nurses convicted of crimes, California regulators rely on law enforcement, local prosecutors, anonymous tips and medical employers.

Vocational nurse Carole Elaine Rose was convicted of child abuse and battery against her 17-year-old son and was once arrested for allegedly threatening to kill patients at a Hanford nursing home.