Young nurse found dead during her shift at hospital was hiding a secret, tragic battle
- Popular nurse Jessica Breheny was found in the bathroom of a hospital in Perth
- She had previously been suspended after taking a highly-addictive painkiller
- Friends said she ‘loved hard’ and ‘enjoyed life to its fullest’ before her death
A young nurse who died during her shift at a hospital in Perth had endured a secret battle with a highly-addictive painkiller.
Jessica Breheny, who also owned a successful floristry business, was found dead in a hospital toilet two weeks ago.
Her mysterious death comes a year after she was suspended for four months for stealing fentanyl from the hospital for her own person use.
It is the same powerful drug that killed American singer Prince.
Jessica Breheny (pictured) was a nurse working in Perth’s Joondalup Health Campus when she mysteriously died earlier this month
Fentanyl is a powerful opioid that is used as a painkiller and is highly addictive.
It’s estimated to be about 100 times stronger than morphine, and as well as relieving pain it also gives a sense of relaxed euphoria.
Mrs Breheny was described by a friend as someone who ‘loved hard, enjoyed life to its fullest … and gave everything she had to care for her patients’.
Her body was found in a bathroom at the Joondalup Health Campus on December 5.
Jessica Breheny (pictured with her husband Conor) had previously been suspended for taking the highly-addictive painkiller fentanyl
Her body was found in the bathroom of the Joondalup Health Campus (pictured) in Perth at the start of December
Authorities have not yet revealed her cause of death, but it is not being treated as suspicious.
The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia said Mrs Breheny, under her maiden name Schouten, had admitted to professional misconduct concerning misappropriated drugs.
Its report said the nurse was remorseful about the incident and had been suffering with a medical condition.
It read: ‘She suffered from medical conditions and at the time was acting in a new role and was struggling with a perceived lack of guidance and emotional and psychological support from her superiors.’
Jessica Breheny (pictured with her husband Conor) had gone back to work at the hospital in Perth, where she later died, after being suspended
Jessica Breheny had been in the middle of a shift at the Joondalup Health Campus in Perth (pictured) when she died
She was suspended for four months and made her pay $4,000 towards the board’s costs.
According to the Alcohol and Drug Foundation, opioids such as fentanyl interact with opioid receptors in the brain
It is prescribed in the event of chronic, severe pain as a result of cancer, nerve damage, back injury, major trauma and surgery.
Last year, a toxicology report from singer Prince’s autopsy showed he had what multiple experts called an ‘exceedingly high’ concentration of fentanyl in his body when he died.
Prince was 57 when he was found alone and unresponsive in an elevator at his Paisley Park estate on April 21 2016.
Public data released six weeks after his death showed he died of an accidental overdose of fentanyl.