Luisa Ritacca

The Member, an audiologist, faced allegations of professional misconduct for prescribing hearing aids without being involved in patient assessment, selection, or validation, and for failing to keep adequate records.

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

The Discipline Committee found the Member committed professional misconduct.

Accepting a joint submission on penalty, the Committee ordered a reprimand, a one-month remitted suspension, remedial education, random audits for two years, and $4,000 in costs.

The Member, an audiologist, faced allegations of professional misconduct for prescribing hearing aids without being involved in patient assessment, selection, or validation, and for failing to keep adequate records.

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

The Discipline Committee found the Member committed professional misconduct.

Accepting a joint submission on penalty, the Committee ordered a reprimand, a one-month remitted suspension, remedial education, random audits for two years, and $4,000 in costs.

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 faced a disciplinary hearing after being found guilty of criminal fraud over $5,000 for improperly using her employer's corporate credit card to defraud them of approximately $30,000.

The member admitted to the allegations of professional misconduct.

The Discipline Committee accepted the joint submission on penalty and ordered the revocation of the member's certificate of registration, emphasizing the need for specific and general deterrence for breaches of trust.

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 brought disciplinary proceedings against the Member for failing to report findings of professional misconduct made against her by the College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta (CARNA).

The Member had been disciplined in Alberta for theft and falsification of records, but failed to disclose these proceedings on her Ontario annual renewal form.

The Discipline Committee found the Member guilty of professional misconduct, noting that the obligation to self-report continues even while a certificate of registration is suspended.

The Committee ordered a five-month suspension to commence upon any future reinstatement, along with strict monitoring conditions.

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 her employment at two facilities.

The allegations included speaking to clients in a rude and condescending manner, administering an excessively hot enema, refusing client assignments, abandoning a shift without arranging replacement services, falsifying observation records, and providing her computer access code to an unregulated care provider.

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 six-month suspension, and terms, conditions, and limitations on her certificate of registration.

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought discipline proceedings against a Registered Practical Nurse following his criminal conviction for sexually assaulting a vulnerable, elderly client at a long-term care facility.

The Discipline Committee found that the member committed professional misconduct by sexually abusing the client and engaging in disgraceful, dishonourable, and unprofessional conduct.

Relying on the certified court transcripts of the member's guilty plea and conviction, the Committee ordered the mandatory penalty of revocation of the member's certificate of registration and an oral reprimand.

The College of Nurses of Ontario alleged that the member committed professional misconduct by practising nursing while her certificate of registration was suspended and by failing to comply with a previous discipline order.

The member did not attend the hearing.

The Discipline Committee found that the member worked as a registered nurse while suspended, failed to attend an oral reprimand, failed to participate in remediation, failed to pay a fine, and failed to inform her employer of her suspension.

The Committee concluded the member was ungovernable and ordered the immediate revocation of her certificate of registration.

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought disciplinary proceedings against the Member for misappropriating approximately $25,000 from her workplace and falsifying documents.

The Member, who held senior management positions, deposited cheques meant for other staff, altered payees on cheques, and submitted fraudulent expense claims.

The Discipline Committee found the allegations proven in the Member's absence, concluding her actions were deceitful, dishonest, and constituted professional misconduct.

The Committee ordered the revocation of the Member's certificate of registration.

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought professional misconduct allegations against the respondent following his criminal convictions for two counts of sexual assault and one count of gross indecency involving a vulnerable person.

The respondent did not attend the discipline hearing.

The Discipline Committee found that the criminal convictions were relevant to his suitability to practise nursing and constituted professional misconduct.

Given the severity of the offences, the breach of trust, and the respondent's lack of governability, the Committee ordered the immediate revocation of his certificate of registration.

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought disciplinary proceedings against the Member for practising as a registered practical nurse while her certificate of registration was suspended for non-payment of fees.

Over a 12-year period, the Member held herself out as a nurse, submitted fraudulent Annual Payment Cards to her employer, and performed unauthorized controlled acts on vulnerable clients.

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

The Member's certificate of registration was suspended for a minimum of five months, subject to specific remediation conditions.

The Member, a Registered Practical Nurse, faced allegations of professional misconduct for misappropriating narcotics, failing to administer medications, and falsifying records at a long-term care facility.

The Member admitted to the allegations, which included signing for narcotics not administered and falsifying removal times.

The Discipline Committee found the Member committed professional misconduct and accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering a reprimand, a four-month suspension, and terms and conditions on her certificate of registration, including meetings with a nursing expert and employer notification.

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought disciplinary proceedings against a registered nurse for her handling of an aggressive elderly client with dementia.

The nurse intervened when the client was found yelling at a roommate.

While the panel found the initial intervention to remove the client from the roommate's bed was appropriate, it held that the nurse breached the standard of practice by subsequently removing the client's shoes and pants, which escalated the situation.

Allegations of physical abuse, aggressive handling, and improper documentation were dismissed.

The panel imposed a penalty requiring the nurse to complete remedial sessions with a nursing expert.

The College of Nurses of Ontario alleged that the Member, a registered practical nurse, committed professional misconduct by failing to maintain boundaries, accepting gifts, exercising undue influence, and misappropriating property from an elderly client at a retirement residence.

The panel found that the Member and the client had a pre-existing relationship, but the Member breached the Therapeutic Nurse-Client Relationship Standard by accepting significant gifts, including a car and large cheques, and by maintaining an inappropriate personal relationship while providing nursing care.

The allegations of undue influence and misappropriation were dismissed due to insufficient evidence.

The panel concluded the Member's actions constituted dishonourable and unprofessional conduct.

The Member, a registered nurse, faced allegations of professional misconduct for failing to disclose terms, conditions, and limitations on her certificate of registration to a prospective employer, and for accepting a position she could not fulfill given those restrictions.

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 penalty, ordering an oral reprimand and a six-month suspension.

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought allegations of professional misconduct against the respondent nurse for inappropriate behaviour, boundary crossings, and misappropriation of narcotics.

The respondent did not attend the hearing.

The Discipline Committee found that the respondent dressed in lingerie and behaved inappropriately with a client, engaged in boundary crossings by visiting a discharged client and accepting gifts, and misappropriated narcotics from two clients' homes.

The Committee ordered a four-month suspension, a reprimand, and imposed terms, conditions, and limitations on the respondent's certificate of registration, including a restriction from practicing independently in the community for 12 months.

The Applicant sought to renew its liquor licence, which the Registrar proposed to refuse based on past and present conduct, including multiple overcrowding violations and outstanding criminal charges against the true owner.

The Board found that the Applicant's history of multiple breaches of the Liquor Licence Act within a brief period demonstrated a wanton disregard for public safety and indicated that the Licensee was ungovernable.

The Board concluded there were reasonable grounds to believe the Applicant would not carry on business in accordance with the law and with honesty and integrity, and refused to renew the licence.

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought professional misconduct allegations against the respondent nurse for incidents involving a mental health client in seclusion.

The respondent was alleged to have verbally abused the client, denied him access to a washroom or urinal, forced him to clean up his own urine, and falsified the patient record to state that staff had cleaned it.

The respondent did not attend the hearing.

The Discipline Committee found the allegations proven on a balance of probabilities, relying on witness testimony, video surveillance, and expert evidence.

The respondent's certificate of registration was suspended for four months, and she was ordered to complete remedial education and notify future employers of the decision.