Indiana nurse suspended after 3 meth cases

RICHMOND, Ind. — The license of an Indiana registered nurse has been suspended after three separate methamphetamine incidents.

Kasey A. Barnard, 27, Rushville, Ind., was terminated from Reid Health in Richmond, Ind., in May 2015 after nodding off at work and then failing a drug screen that returned positive for amphetamines and meth, according to the Indiana State Board of Nursing.

Six months later, she was arrested in Henry County, Ind., on a charge of visiting a common nuisance. She was visiting an apartment when police conducted a raid and found 34 grams of meth, nine tablets of painkillers, a digital scale, large amounts of cash and drug paraphernalia. According to Indiana law, the charge of visiting a common nuisance stems from "a person who knowingly or intentionally visits a building, structure, vehicle, or other place that is used by any person to unlawfully use a controlled substance."

Another person who was visiting the apartment told police that Barnard had smoked meth before officers arrived with a search warrant. Barnard reportedly admitted to police that she had purchased meth at the apartment about 20 times.

She continued to serve as a nurse after the arrest. On Feb. 12, Barnard was fired from Especially Kidz Health & Rehab, a nursing care facility for special needs children in Shelbyville, Ind., for stealing an entire box of insulin safety syringes. Three days later, a random drug screen returned positive for meth and amphetamines.

The Indiana nursing board voted 5-0 recently to suspend Barnard's license, calling her a clear and immediate danger to the public if allowed to continue to practice. A trial on the common-nuisance charge is scheduled for August.

While many more Indiana nurses are addicted to marijuana, alcohol and painkillers than to meth or heroin, the Indiana State Nurses Assistance Program (ISNAP) has seen an increase in their use of heroin.

There are currently more than 105,000 registered nurses and more than 26,000 licensed practical nurses in Indiana, an estimated 13,000 of whom are struggling with addiction. ISNAP usually only sees the nurses who get caught, program director Charles Lindquist said earlier this year. A good number of nurses are in recovery but a good number of them are not, he said.

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