CNO 2013

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought disciplinary proceedings against a registered nurse for professional misconduct.

The nurse admitted to breaching client confidentiality by allowing her partner to accompany her on home visits, inappropriately disclosing personal financial difficulties to a client, accepting a $700 gift from the client, and failing to secure the client's narcotics, which allowed her partner to steal them.

The Discipline Committee accepted an agreed statement of facts and a joint submission on penalty, finding the nurse committed professional misconduct.

The nurse was reprimanded, her certificate of registration was suspended for four months, and conditions were imposed on her practice.

The Member, a registered practical nurse, pled guilty to professional misconduct after being convicted of robbery with violence.

The Member had stabbed a taxi driver while attempting to rob him to support an addiction.

The Discipline Committee accepted an Agreed Statement of Facts and a Joint Submission on Order.

The Committee ordered a reprimand, a five-month suspension of the Member's certificate of registration, and imposed terms and conditions requiring sessions with a nursing expert.

The member brought a pre-hearing motion seeking to sever allegations 1 to 4 from allegations 5 to 9, which involved separate incidents of alleged sexual abuse of two different clients in an emergency department.

The member argued that hearing the allegations together would risk credibility cross-pollination and prejudice the right to a fair hearing.

The Discipline Committee applied the factors from R. v. Last and found a lack of legal and factual nexus between the allegations, a high risk of prejudice, and the potential for distinctly different defences.

The motion was granted, and the allegations were ordered to be heard by separate panels.

The College of Nurses of Ontario alleged that the Member, acting as a charge nurse, committed professional misconduct by failing to properly investigate and report a client's allegation of sexual abuse against another nurse.

The client had complained to a bedside nurse about the care provided by a male nurse during a catheterization.

The bedside nurse reported the complaint to the Member as an issue of nursing care and client discomfort with a male nurse, without mentioning 'inappropriate touching'.

The Member relied on the bedside nurse's assessment and ensured the male nurse was reassigned.

The Discipline Committee found that the Member acted reasonably based on the information provided to her and dismissed all allegations of professional misconduct, breach of standards, and failure to report.

The Member, a Registered Practical Nurse, faced allegations of sexually harassing five co-workers at a long-term care facility.

The Discipline Committee found that the Member engaged in professional misconduct by sexually harassing four of the five co-workers through unwanted physical contact, inappropriate comments, and asking a co-worker on a date after she declined.

The Committee concluded that the Member's actions constituted disgraceful, dishonourable, and unprofessional conduct.

The allegation regarding the fifth co-worker was dismissed due to insufficient evidence.

The Member, a registered practical nurse, faced disciplinary proceedings for accepting loans from two elderly clients at a retirement residence.

The Member admitted to the allegations and agreed to a statement of facts.

The Discipline Committee found that the Member committed professional misconduct by contravening the standards of practice and engaging in unprofessional and dishonourable conduct.

The Committee accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering a reprimand, a three-month suspension, and various terms, conditions, and limitations on the Member's certificate of registration.

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought allegations of professional misconduct against a Registered Practical Nurse for numerous medication administration and documentation errors, as well as sexual harassment of a co-worker.

The member admitted to the medication and documentation errors but denied the sexual harassment.

The Discipline Committee found the practice-related allegations proven based on an Agreed Statement of Facts.

However, the Committee dismissed the sexual harassment allegations, finding the evidence of the complainant and the member equally credible and therefore insufficient to meet the burden of proof.

The member was penalized with a reprimand, a three-month suspension, and terms and conditions on his certificate of registration, including employer notification.

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought disciplinary proceedings against a member who continued to practise nursing after voluntarily surrendering her certificate of registration.

The member used a different name, falsified annual payment cards, and misled her employers about her registration status.

She was also criminally convicted of theft, fraud, and failing to comply with an undertaking.

The Discipline Committee found the member committed professional misconduct, noting her actions were disgraceful, dishonourable, and unprofessional.

The Committee revoked her certificate of registration and ordered an oral reprimand.

The Member, a registered nurse, faced allegations of professional misconduct for failing to maintain the boundaries of the nurse-client relationship with three vulnerable psychiatric clients.

The Member admitted to the allegations, which included engaging in personal relationships, making personal disclosures, and communicating extensively outside of therapy.

The Discipline Committee accepted an Agreed Statement of Facts and found the Member committed professional misconduct.

A joint submission on penalty was accepted, resulting in a reprimand, a four-month suspension, and terms, conditions, and limitations on the Member's certificate of registration.

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought allegations of professional misconduct against the respondent, a Registered Practical Nurse, for criminal convictions including theft, forgery, and impaired driving, as well as for exploiting vulnerable clients.

The respondent was found to have misappropriated property, breached therapeutic boundaries, and engaged in disgraceful and dishonourable conduct.

The Discipline Committee found all allegations proven and ordered the revocation of the respondent's certificate of registration.

The Member, a Registered Practical Nurse, faced allegations of professional misconduct relating to unauthorized dispensing of Fentanyl patches, medication administration errors involving Methadone, and failure to properly document and report these errors.

The Member admitted to the allegations and an Agreed Statement of Facts was presented.

The Discipline Committee found that the Member committed professional misconduct, including disgraceful, dishonourable, and unprofessional conduct.

Accepting a joint submission on penalty, the Committee ordered a reprimand, a six-month suspension, and imposed terms, conditions, and limitations on the Member's certificate of registration, including remediation and employer notification requirements.

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought allegations of professional misconduct against the respondent nurse for practicing while suspended and failing to comply with a 2012 Discipline Committee order.

The respondent did not attend the hearing.

The panel found the respondent ungovernable, noting she had breached all terms of the prior order, deceived employers, and continued to work while suspended.

The panel ordered the immediate revocation of the respondent's certificate of registration, to take effect if she ever successfully applies for reinstatement of her administratively revoked certificate.

The Member faced allegations of professional misconduct including soliciting money from vulnerable clients, failing to administer medications while charting that they were given, and practising and using the title of Registered Practical Nurse while her certificate of registration was suspended.

The Member admitted to the allegations.

The Discipline Committee found the Member committed professional misconduct that was disgraceful, dishonourable, and unprofessional.

The Committee accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering a reprimand, a six-month suspension, and various conditions on her certificate, but declined to order financial restitution to a client, finding it lacked jurisdiction under the Regulated Health Professions Act to do so.

The Member, a Registered Practical Nurse, admitted to professional misconduct including stealing prescription pads, forging prescriptions for Oxycodone, and billing for home care client visits that he did not attend.

He also failed to disclose his criminal convictions to his employers.

The Discipline Committee accepted the Agreed Statement of Facts and Joint Submission on Order, finding the Member guilty of professional misconduct.

The Member was reprimanded, his certificate of registration was suspended for eight months, and conditions were imposed, including a 24-month prohibition on independent community practice.

The Member faced allegations of professional misconduct for communicating inappropriately with a client's family member and taking unauthorized photographs of an unconscious client, which she then shared with a colleague.

The Member admitted to the allegations via an Agreed Statement of Facts.

The Discipline Committee found the Member committed professional misconduct, including emotional abuse and disgraceful, dishonourable, and unprofessional conduct.

Accepting a joint submission on penalty, the Committee ordered a reprimand, a three-month suspension, and terms, conditions, and limitations on the Member's certificate of registration, including employer notification and meetings with a nursing expert.

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought allegations of professional misconduct against a member for practising as a registered nurse, using the title 'RN', and performing controlled acts (administering injections) while her certificate of registration was suspended for non-payment of fees over an eight-year period.

The member admitted to the allegations and agreed to a statement of facts characterizing her conduct as disgraceful, dishonourable, and unprofessional.

The Discipline Committee found the conduct to be dishonourable and unprofessional, but rejected the admission that it was disgraceful, finding insufficient evidence that it shamed the profession or demonstrated a lack of moral fitness.

The Committee accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering an oral reprimand, a three-month suspension, and remedial terms including meetings with a nursing expert and employer notification.

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought disciplinary proceedings against a registered nurse for misappropriating funds from residents, making unauthorized purchases on a facility credit card, and taking money from a petty cash trust account.

The Member did not attend the hearing.

The Discipline Committee found the allegations proven based on witness testimony and the Member's prior criminal convictions for theft and fraud related to the same conduct.

The Committee concluded the Member's actions constituted professional misconduct that was disgraceful, dishonourable, and unprofessional, and ordered the immediate revocation of her certificate of registration.

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought disciplinary proceedings against the Member for physically and mentally abusing an elderly resident by throwing milk on her, and for subsequently falsifying a reference letter to obtain new employment.

The Member did not attend the hearing.

The Discipline Committee found the allegations proven based on clear and consistent witness testimony.

The Committee concluded the Member's actions constituted professional misconduct and ordered a five-month suspension, an oral reprimand, and conditions on her certificate of registration should she return to practice.

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought disciplinary proceedings against a Registered Practical Nurse who pled guilty to criminal charges for stealing money from a vulnerable client's purse.

The Discipline Committee found the nurse committed professional misconduct.

The Committee ordered a reprimand, a four-month suspension of her certificate of registration, and imposed terms, conditions, and limitations on her practice, including a 12-month restriction on practicing independently in the community.

The Member, a registered nurse, faced allegations of professional misconduct relating to his care of five clients.

The College and the Member presented an Agreed Statement of Facts, admitting that the Member failed to properly assess and document care, failed to obtain informed consent before touching clients' intimate areas, and breached therapeutic boundaries.

The Discipline Committee found the Member committed professional misconduct.

Accepting a Joint Submission on Order, the Committee ordered a reprimand, a two-month suspension, and terms, conditions, and limitations on the Member's certificate of registration, including meetings with a nursing expert and employer notification.