The College of Nurses of Ontario brought allegations of professional misconduct against a registered nurse for allegedly striking a psychiatric patient and falsifying the patient's records to conceal the incident.
The Discipline Committee found that the College failed to prove the nurse deliberately struck the patient, as the contact may have been defensive.
However, the Committee found the nurse guilty of professional misconduct for deliberately falsifying clinical records and incident reports to hide his involvement in the altercation.
The nurse's certificate of registration was suspended for 15 months, with conditions for practice monitoring upon return to employment.