The BC College of Nurses and Midwives has suspended a nurse after discovering the person had stolen drugs for their own use from April to November 2023.
“The registrant willingly falsified documentation concealing the drug diversion and at times tampered with packaging replacing the controlled substance with an uncontrolled substance,” an inquiry committee panel said in a Sept. 13 public notice.
“The registrant also accessed patient information for patients not under their care.”
The panel said the nurse was diagnosed with — and admitted to — a disability with a causal relationship to the conduct and practice issues, via an independent medical evaluation.
The nurse, whose name and workplace were not disclosed, has agreed to comply with the treatment recommendations, the panel said.
Reprimand for falsification
The discipline includes:
• a suspension of nursing registration for one week for replacing medications in packages they did not belong to;
• a reprimand for falsification of records to conceal their diversion activities and for accessing information of patients not under their care;
• enrolment in, and regular reports from, a medical monitoring agency regarding compliance with treatment recommendations, including remaining abstinent from psychoactive substances;
• disclosure of treatment recommendations to relevant employer representatives;
• a limit impacting access to and handling of controlled-class medications, with concurrent medical monitoring, to support the stable return to fitness to practice;
• a limit to working day shifts only for a period;
• a limit restricting the person from acting as the nurse-in-charge, working more than full-time hours, having supervision over students and/or being involved in orientation of new staff for a term; and,
• indirect supervision of their nursing practice for 12 months to monitor their activities related to controlled-class medications to assess whether there is a pattern suggestive that drug diversion is recurring.
Agreement in effect three years
The agreement will remain in place for a minimum of three years of continuous nursing practice.
The college is currently one of 18 regulatory bodies empowered under the Health Professions Act to regulate health professions in B.C. It regulates the practice of four distinct professions: nursing, practical nursing, psychiatric nursing and midwifery.
Similar legislation in other self-regulated areas such as the legal and notary public professions also allows citizens to know about discipline issues in the public interest.
“The inquiry committee is satisfied that the terms will protect the public,” the college said.
