A South Australian aged care nurse has been ordered to undertake education programs after she showed a video of child sexual abuse to colleagues while at work.

Key points: The woman said she was sent the video on WhatsApp

The woman said she was sent the video on WhatsApp Her colleagues reported the issue and she was suspended

Her colleagues reported the issue and she was suspended A tribunal found her actions amounted to misconduct

However, police have not charged the woman and no further registration suspension was imposed, after the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (SACAT) ruled the woman believed the video to be "abhorrent".

A published judgement reveals she showed the video, which involved the abuse of an infant, to two workers while on a night shift at an aged care facility in November 2018.

"Her account of her reason for doing so was to educate them about the crime of sexual abuse," the tribunal said.

Distressed by its contents, her colleagues raised the issue with their employer and the woman was suspended from work.

In mid-December of that year, the Nursing and Midwifery Board suspended the woman's registration, but she appealed and the decision was revoked.

After her suspension was lifted, the woman secured a three-month contract at another aged care facility but she has been unemployed since mid-2019.

As of January 2019, there has been no active police investigation into the matter.

Woman was 'very distressed' by video

SACAT heard the woman had moved to Australia from Africa in about 2011 and was a member of a WhatsApp group called Christ is Coming Soon.

She said most of the members live in Africa and membership of the group required daily prayers or prayer-like activities.

The video in question was sent to the group captioned with the words: "Be careful who you leave your kids with".

"[The woman] viewed the video and was very distressed," the judgement read.

"She is a single mother of a child about the same age as the abused child in the video."

The woman said that, after viewing the video, she changed shifts at the nursing home so that she could remain home during the day with her son "rather than leave him in the care of others".

She said she went with a friend to report the video to police but was told nothing could be done at a local level because it was produced overseas.

The tribunal rejected her claim that she was unaware it was illegal to possess the video under Australian law.

Video left colleagues 'significantly traumatised'

Several weeks after she tried to make the report, the woman was reminded of the video during a conversation with her colleagues at work.

She said their discussion centred around lax investigations or laws, and the different approaches taken in different countries.

"[She] showed the video separately to two colleagues as part of, or inspired by, that conversation," the tribunal said.

Both colleagues said in statements they were "significantly traumatised" by the video and helped her delete it from her phone.

The matter was referred to SACAT to consider whether the woman's actions amounted to professional misconduct.

The tribunal accepted the woman had no intention to harm others but said the conduct was nonetheless serious.

"The tribunal considers that the act of a nurse showing colleagues child exploitation material of the most serious kind in the workplace amounts to professional misconduct," the judgement read.

"It is conduct that falls substantially below the conduct expected of a nurse."

It raised concerns that she may not still fully appreciate why her conduct was wrong, and ordered that the woman complete education programs on cultural awareness and appropriate use of electronic devices at work.

The woman will not have to serve any further suspension of her registration, but will have a set of conditions imposed on her for four months.