VALPARAISO | Elizabeth West apologized Friday for stealing medications while working as a nurse at the Porter Valparaiso Hospital Campus.

While the 44-year-old said she is an addict and does not intend to return to nursing, West said she is working to break her habit and turn her life around.

West pleaded guilty to a felony theft count, in return for nearly a year of informal probation instead of further jail time. She was also given the right to return after successfully completing the probation to ask the court to reduce her felony conviction to a misdemeanor.

The deal, however, is contingent up West continuing with the Indiana State Nurses Assistance Program. The program's Web site says it "offers consultation, referral and monitoring for nurses whose practice is impaired or potentially impaired, due to the use, abuse or dependency of alcohol and other drugs."

West told Porter Senior Judge Raymond Kickbush she is subject to random drug screenings, checks in daily by telephone and takes part in different therapies and meetings.

The pharmacy director at Porter hospital told police West was seen taking a syringe of Demerol from a secured narcotics cabinet on Sept. 28 and it was later learned the drug was not prescribed to anyone under her care during that shift.

West told police at the time she broke her back in a serious car accident in 2001 and had undergone numerous surgeries and suffered a great deal of pain. In addition, she told police she was diagnosed with bone and breast cancer and began undergoing chemotherapy.

She told police she began stealing Demerol at that point due to increased pain she was suffering.

West said Friday she had been stealing the medications over a period of five to six months.