Spencer Dickson

The Member, a registered nurse, faced allegations of professional misconduct including sexual abuse and failing to maintain therapeutic boundaries with a psychiatric client.

The Member admitted to the allegations, which involved a romantic and sexual relationship with the client both during his admission and shortly after discharge.

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

The panel accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering a reprimand and the immediate revocation of the Member's certificate of registration.

The Member, a registered nurse, faced allegations of professional misconduct for failing to document or account for the withdrawal of approximately $36,500 in client funds from a hospital's Pin Money System.

The Member admitted to the allegations, acknowledging her failure to maintain proper records and receipts for purchases made on behalf of clients.

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

The Member was ordered to be reprimanded, suspended for one month, and subjected to terms and conditions 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 Member, a registered nurse, admitted to committing professional misconduct by accessing the personal health records of ten clients without consent or professional authorization over a period of several years.

The Discipline Committee of the College of Nurses of Ontario found the Member guilty of professional misconduct, noting her actions were dishonourable and unprofessional.

The Committee accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering a reprimand, a three-month suspension of her certificate of registration, and terms including meetings with a nursing expert and a 12-month employer notification requirement.

The Member, a registered nurse, faced allegations of professional misconduct for physically abusing a cognitively impaired client at a long-term care facility by grabbing and shaking her.

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

The Discipline Committee found the Member committed professional misconduct, including failing to meet the Therapeutic Nurse-Client Relationship standard and engaging in disgraceful, dishonourable, and unprofessional conduct.

The Committee accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering an oral reprimand, noting that the Member had already signed an undertaking to permanently resign from the College and never reapply.

The Member, a Registered Nurse, admitted to accessing the electronic medical records of two clients without consent or authorization.

One client was known to the Member personally, and the other had recently committed suicide at the hospital.

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

The penalty, ordered by joint submission, included a reprimand, a two-month suspension, meetings with a nursing expert, and employer notification for 18 months.

The Member, a registered nurse, faced disciplinary proceedings for her care of an inmate who sustained a fractured nose at a detention centre.

The Member admitted to professional misconduct and incompetence, including failing to obtain informed consent, attempting to manually straighten the fractured nose (an unauthorized controlled act), and failing to accurately document the incident.

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

The Member faced allegations of professional misconduct, including practising nursing while his certificate of registration was suspended and failing to respond appropriately to a medication order.

The Member admitted to the allegations.

The Discipline Committee found the Member committed professional misconduct and ordered a reprimand, a three-month suspension of his certificate of registration, and the imposition of terms, conditions, and limitations on his certificate.

The former member applied for reinstatement of her certificate of registration, which was revoked in 2003 following criminal convictions for fraud.

The former member failed to attend the reinstatement hearing despite receiving adequate notice.

As the onus was on the former member to establish suitability for reinstatement and no evidence was led, the Discipline Committee dismissed the application.

The applicant applied for reinstatement of her nursing certificate of registration, which was revoked in 2009 for professional misconduct involving a sexual relationship with a client.

The College of Nurses of Ontario did not oppose the application, and both parties presented a joint submission on order.

Relying on an independent psychiatric evaluation that deemed the applicant a low risk to re-offend, as well as her subsequent rehabilitation and retraining as a Pharmacy Technician, the Discipline Committee granted the reinstatement subject to strict terms, conditions, and limitations, including practice monitoring and restrictions on independent community nursing.

The Member, a Registered Practical Nurse, faced allegations of professional misconduct for misappropriating Zopiclone and Lorazepam from her workplace and providing Zopiclone to her partner without a prescription.

She had previously pled guilty to criminal theft for the same conduct.

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

The Committee ordered a reprimand, a four-month suspension, and terms including meetings with a nursing expert and employer notification.

The College of Nurses of Ontario brought professional misconduct allegations against a registered practical nurse for failing to complete a Specified Continuing Education or Remediation Program (SCERP) as ordered by the Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee.

The member did not attend the hearing.

The Discipline Committee found that the member was aware of the order and failed to complete it, which constituted professional misconduct and dishonourable conduct.

The member's certificate of registration was suspended for four months, and she was ordered to complete the SCERP requirements and notify future employers of the decision.

The Member, a registered nurse working in a correctional facility, faced allegations of professional misconduct relating to her care of a pregnant inmate.

The Member admitted to failing to adequately assess and monitor the client, who ultimately delivered a baby in her cell, and failing to inform her employer that she was not competent to care for pregnant clients without supervision.

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

The Member, a Registered Practical Nurse, faced allegations of professional misconduct for falsifying annual payment cards and membership renewal receipts to misrepresent herself as a Registered Nurse.

She also applied for and worked in a Registered Nurse position and arranged with a co-worker to falsify time records.

The Member admitted to the allegations.

The Discipline Committee found the Member committed professional misconduct and, accepting a joint submission, ordered a reprimand, a four-month suspension, and terms and conditions on her certificate of registration.

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 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 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 for failing to provide his employer with a true copy of his recognizance of bail documents, modifying or altering those documents, and seeking to deceive his employer regarding his bail conditions.

The Discipline Committee found that the Member intentionally falsified the documents to hide a bail condition prohibiting him from being in the presence of females under 18 years of age.

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

The Member was reprimanded, his certificate of registration was suspended for five months, and terms, conditions, and limitations were imposed on his practice.

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.