Robert K. Stephenson

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought professional misconduct allegations against a registered nurse for failing to properly triage a patient presenting with chest pain and for discarding an electrocardiogram test.

The patient, who was under-assessed as a lower priority, was left in the waiting room without a medical directive being initiated and subsequently died.

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, suspended for three months, and subjected to terms and conditions on his certificate of registration.

The Member, a registered nurse, faced allegations of professional misconduct for sexually abusing a patient and breaching the boundaries of the therapeutic nurse-client relationship.

The Member and the patient exchanged sexually explicit text messages and videos after the patient's discharge from the hospital.

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, the immediate revocation of the Member's certificate of registration, and reimbursement of up to $5,000 for client therapy.

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, 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 Member, a registered nurse, admitted to committing professional misconduct by accessing the electronic health records of a high-profile client without authorization or professional purpose.

The Member accessed the records out of curiosity regarding the client's age and family history.

The Discipline Committee accepted an agreed statement of facts and a joint submission on penalty, finding the conduct to be dishonourable and unprofessional.

The Member was reprimanded, suspended for one month, and subjected to terms, conditions, and limitations on her certificate of registration.

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 College of Nurses of Ontario brought disciplinary proceedings against a registered nurse who failed to secure 27 Hydromorphone tablets prior to their destruction and disposal.

The member admitted to failing to follow the facility's protocol but contested whether the conduct amounted to unprofessional conduct.

The Discipline Committee found that the member's failure to immediately secure the narcotics in the lockbox demonstrated a serious disregard for her professional obligations and constituted unprofessional conduct.

The panel accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering a two-month suspension, a reprimand, and terms, conditions, and limitations on the member's certificate of registration.

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought disciplinary proceedings against a registered nurse for conducting breast and abdominal examinations on a patient without adequate communication, consent, or documentation.

The member admitted to the allegations of professional misconduct.

The Discipline Committee accepted an agreed statement of facts and a joint submission on penalty, ordering a reprimand, a one-month suspension, and terms including meetings with a nursing expert and employer notification.

The Member, a registered nurse, faced allegations of professional misconduct relating to his care of multiple clients at a home healthcare agency and a hospital.

The allegations included failing to maintain confidentiality, failing to promptly report a client's death, inaccurate charting, failing to assess clients, and failing to document care.

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 a reprimand and imposing terms, conditions, and limitations on his certificate of registration, including meetings with a nursing expert, coursework, and employer monitoring.

The Member, a registered nurse, faced allegations of professional misconduct for accessing the personal health records of approximately 285 clients without authorization and for failing to maintain professional boundaries with a homecare client.

The Member admitted to the allegations.

The Discipline Committee found that the Member committed professional misconduct, as her actions contravened the standards of practice and constituted dishonourable and unprofessional conduct.

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

The Member brought a pre-hearing motion seeking to stay professional misconduct proceedings due to unreasonable delay and abuse of process by the College of Nurses of Ontario.

The College had investigated allegations of sexual abuse but allowed the Member to continue practicing for nearly two years before imposing an interim suspension.

The Discipline Committee found that the College's unexplained investigative delays, combined with the imposition of an interim suspension without a timely hearing, constituted an abuse of process that prejudiced the administration of justice.

The motion was granted and the proceedings were stayed.

The Member, a registered nurse, admitted to professional misconduct for accessing the electronic health records of approximately 5,800 patients without consent or professional purpose over a six-year period.

The Discipline Committee accepted an Agreed Statement of Facts and found that the Member's actions constituted a breach of the College's practice standards and unprofessional conduct.

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

The defendant was charged with nine counts of wilfully collecting and using personal health information without authority under the Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004.

The defendant brought Charter applications under section 11(b) for unreasonable delay and under section 7 for abuse of process and selective prosecution.

The court found a violation of section 11(b) due to Crown delay of 16 months and 10 days, which exceeded the Morin guidelines by 6 months and 10 days.

The court found actual and inferred prejudice to the defendant.

The court rejected the section 7 application, finding no abuse of process.

A stay of proceedings was granted pursuant to section 11(b) and section 24(1) of the Charter.

The Discipline Committee held a penalty hearing after finding the member nurse committed professional misconduct by sexually abusing a client.

The College sought mandatory revocation of the member's certificate of registration, a reprimand, and reimbursement for the client's therapy.

The member requested that the mandatory revocation be suspended pending his appeal.

The panel ordered immediate revocation, a reprimand, and up to $5,000 in reimbursement for therapy.

While acknowledging its jurisdiction to suspend a mandatory revocation, the panel declined to do so given the predatory nature of the abuse and the absence of extraordinary circumstances.

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought disciplinary proceedings against a registered nurse for sexually abusing a vulnerable, intoxicated client in the emergency department.

The client alleged the nurse placed the client's hand on his penis and masturbated while the client was incapacitated.

The panel found the client's testimony highly credible and corroborated by security video footage, which contradicted the nurse's alternative explanation.

The panel concluded the nurse committed professional misconduct, including sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, and engaged in disgraceful, dishonourable, and unprofessional conduct.

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 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 member, a registered nurse, faced allegations of professional misconduct for sexually harassing a co-worker, including inappropriate touching and comments, sometimes in the presence of unconscious clients.

The member admitted to the allegations in 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 four-month suspension, and remedial conditions on the member's certificate of registration.

The Member, a registered nurse working in a psychiatric unit, admitted to professional misconduct for crossing professional boundaries and emotionally abusing a vulnerable client.

The Member made inappropriate comments, hugged the client, kissed the client on the forehead, tucked the client into bed, and stroked the client's hip.

The Discipline Committee accepted an Agreed Statement of Facts and a Joint Submission on Order, finding the Member's conduct to be dishonourable and unprofessional.

The Member was reprimanded, suspended for two months, and subjected to terms, conditions, and limitations on his certificate of registration, including mandatory sessions with a nursing expert.