CNO 2017

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought disciplinary proceedings against the Member for alleged sexual abuse of a patient.

The Member brought a preliminary motion for third-party production of the Complainant's mental health and counselling records, arguing they were relevant to the Complainant's reliability and memory due to his history of bipolar schizoaffective disorder.

Applying the O'Connor test, the Discipline Committee ordered the production of records from one treating psychiatrist for a limited timeframe overlapping with the alleged incident and the Complainant's decision to report it.

The requests for all other counselling and historical mental health records were denied for failing to meet the threshold of likely relevance.

The Member was found to have committed professional misconduct, including engaging in dishonourable and unprofessional conduct, failing to obtain consent, and providing inappropriate care.

The Discipline Committee accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering a six-month suspension, a reprimand, and terms, conditions, and limitations on the Member's certificate of registration, including meetings with a nursing expert and employer notification.

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought professional misconduct allegations against a registered nurse for physically abusing a psychiatric patient and failing to document the interaction.

The member admitted to the allegations, acknowledging he pushed the client into a wall, restrained him, and failed to document the incident.

The Discipline Committee accepted an agreed statement of facts and found the member committed professional misconduct.

Accepting a joint submission on penalty, the Committee ordered a two-month suspension, an oral reprimand, and conditions requiring meetings with a nursing expert and employer notification.

The Member, a registered nurse, faced disciplinary proceedings for discontinuing a client's life support without medical authorization and failing to document the responsible physician's refusal to authorize the discontinuation.

The Member admitted to the allegations.

The Discipline Committee found the Member committed professional misconduct and engaged in dishonourable and unprofessional conduct.

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

The member, a registered nurse working in a correctional facility, admitted to professional misconduct for engaging in a personal and romantic relationship with a vulnerable, incarcerated client.

The member communicated with the client outside the therapeutic relationship, shared personal information, and sent him money.

The Discipline Committee accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering a three-month suspension, an oral reprimand, and terms, conditions, and limitations on the member's certificate of registration, including meetings with a nursing expert and employer notification.

The member, a registered nurse, faced allegations of professional misconduct for accessing a client's personal information for a non-health-related purpose, sending personal text messages to the client, misappropriating a blank prescription pad from the hospital, and forging a physician's signature to prescribe himself medication.

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

The Discipline Committee found the member committed professional misconduct.

Pursuant to a joint submission, the Committee ordered an oral reprimand, noting that the member had already permanently resigned from the College and agreed never to reapply.

The Member, a registered nurse providing psychotherapeutic counselling, admitted to professional misconduct for failing to maintain therapeutic boundaries, entering into a financial relationship, and practising in a conflict of interest with a client.

The Member co-leased clinic space to the client and received payments for mentorship and partnership buy-in while continuing a therapeutic relationship.

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

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought disciplinary proceedings against a Registered Practical Nurse for allegedly misappropriating money and narcotics from two vulnerable home care clients.

The Member did not attend the hearing.

The panel dismissed the allegations regarding the first client due to inconsistencies in the affidavit evidence.

However, the panel found the Member committed professional misconduct by misappropriating cash from the second client, noting the Member had already pleaded guilty to criminal theft charges for this incident.

The panel ordered a reprimand, a five-month suspension, and imposed terms, conditions, and limitations on the Member's certificate of registration.

The Member, a registered nurse, faced allegations of professional misconduct involving multiple incidents of physical and emotional abuse, failing to follow care plans, and inappropriate communication with patients' families.

The Member admitted to the allegations, including bending a patient's finger back, hitting a patient across the mouth, and leaving a patient in an unsafe bed position.

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

The Committee ordered a reprimand, a six-month suspension, and imposed terms and conditions on the Member's certificate of registration.

The Member, a Registered Practical Nurse, was charged and convicted of impaired driving.

She failed to report the charges and the subsequent conviction to the College of Nurses of Ontario.

Furthermore, she provided false and misleading information on her registration applications by denying any ongoing proceedings or convictions.

The Discipline Committee found the Member committed professional misconduct.

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

The Member, a registered nurse, admitted to professional misconduct after engaging in inappropriate conduct and communication with a 16-year-old client.

The Member allowed the client to watch an R-rated movie on his personal iPad, showed the client personal photos, exchanged phone numbers, and sent text messages asking the client to provide contact information for a marijuana supplier.

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

The Member, a registered nurse, faced allegations of professional misconduct for withdrawing medications (primarily narcotics) from the hospital's dispensing system without documenting their administration or disposal.

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

The Discipline Committee found the Member committed professional misconduct by contravening standards of practice, failing to keep records, and engaging in unprofessional conduct.

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

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought allegations of professional misconduct against a registered nurse for misappropriating credit cards from clients, being convicted of multiple criminal offences including theft and failure to comply with recognizance, and failing to report these charges and convictions to the College.

The Discipline Committee found that the member committed the alleged acts of professional misconduct, noting her actions demonstrated a serious disregard for integrity, the law, and the profession.

The member did not attend the hearing.

The Committee ordered the immediate revocation of the member's Certificate of Registration.

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought allegations of professional misconduct against a Registered Practical Nurse for verbally and emotionally abusing elderly and vulnerable clients, including making inappropriate comments, a 'Heil Hitler-like' gesture, and referring to a client as 'lazy' and a 'waste of tax dollars'.

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

The Discipline Committee found the Member committed professional misconduct and accepted a Joint Submission on Order, imposing a five-month suspension, an oral reprimand, and terms, conditions, and limitations on his certificate of registration, including meetings with a nursing expert and employer notification.

The Member, a Registered Practical Nurse, faced allegations of professional misconduct for administering and selling Botox and dermal fillers without authorization from a physician, failing to document pre-treatment assessments and client information, and misusing the protected title of Registered Nurse.

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

The Discipline Committee found the Member committed professional misconduct and accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering a reprimand, a three-month suspension, and terms, conditions, and limitations on her certificate of registration.

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought disciplinary proceedings against a registered nurse for physically and emotionally abusing two vulnerable clients at a facility for adults with developmental disabilities.

The member, who had previously pled guilty to six criminal counts of assault, did not attend the hearing.

Relying on video surveillance and witness testimony, the Discipline Committee found the member committed professional misconduct by contravening standards of practice and engaging in disgraceful, dishonourable, and unprofessional conduct.

The Committee ordered the immediate revocation of the member's certificate of registration and required him to appear for a reprimand.

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought disciplinary proceedings against a registered nurse for issuing written referral orders for in-vitro fertilization under a physician's name without approval, and for falsifying payroll records to transfer his worked hours to his sister to help her qualify for Employment Insurance.

The member admitted to the allegations.

The Discipline Committee found the member committed professional misconduct, including misappropriating property and engaging in dishonourable and unprofessional conduct.

Accepting a joint submission, the Committee ordered a reprimand, a three-month suspension, and terms including meetings with a nursing expert and employer notification.

The College of Nurses of Ontario alleged that the Member committed professional misconduct by failing to report an incident where she observed a colleague strike a psychiatric client and place him in a headlock.

The Member denied seeing the abuse, claiming she was focused on securing the client's ankles during the restraint.

Relying on video surveillance footage and witness testimony, the Discipline Committee found that the Member had ample opportunity to observe the abuse and did in fact see it.

The Committee rejected the defence expert's theory of unintentional blindness.

The Member was found to have breached the standards of practice and engaged in dishonourable and unprofessional conduct by failing to report the incident.

The Member was found to have committed professional misconduct for failing to report the abuse of a client.

At the penalty hearing, the College sought a two-month suspension, while the Member argued for a six-week suspension.

The Discipline Committee ordered a reprimand, a two-month suspension, and imposed terms, conditions, and limitations on the Member's certificate of registration, including mandatory meetings with a Nursing Expert and employer notification.

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought disciplinary proceedings against a registered nurse who was convicted of multiple counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and aggravated assault for intentionally administering insulin overdoses to 14 vulnerable patients in long-term care and home care settings.

The nurse, who had resigned her certificate of registration and was serving a life sentence, did not attend the hearing.

The Discipline Committee found that the nurse committed egregious professional misconduct, including physical abuse and disgraceful, dishonourable, and unprofessional conduct.

The Committee ordered the immediate revocation of her certificate of registration, emphasizing the paramount need for public protection and deterrence.