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Donna M. Sanderson, 6714182
Facts
The Member admitted that she engaged in professional misconduct. At the time of the incident, the Member was the “nurse-in-charge” at a healthcare facility in a remote, fly-in, First Nations community. The police brought a patient to the facility in a police vehicle. The patient, who had numerous health conditions, was heavily intoxicated and police advised the Member that the patient had been involved in an altercation. The Member assessed the patient in the back of the police vehicle. The assessment was inadequate and incomplete, and the Member should have brought the patient into the facility to complete the assessment. The Member concluded that the patient was medically clear to be taken to the police station. The Member advised police to observe the patient and bring the patient back when the patient was alert and sober for reassessment. Shortly after leaving the facility, the patient stopped breathing and was brought back to the facility where the patient was later pronounced dead. The expert report in a Coroner’s Inquest opined that, given the setting, earlier intervention would not have changed the outcome.
Discipline Committee’s Findings
Based on the Member’s admissions, a panel of the Discipline Committee of the College of Nurses of Ontario (the “Panel”) found that the Member:
- contravened a standard of practice of the profession or failed to meet the standards of practice of the profession; and
- engaged in conduct or performed an act, relevant to the practice of nursing, that, having regard to all the circumstances, would reasonably be regarded by members as dishonourable and unprofessional.
Discipline Committee’s Order
The Member signed an undertaking to permanently resign as a member of the College of Nurses of Ontario (“CNO”) and agreed not to apply for membership with CNO at any time in the future.
In light of the Member’s undertaking, the CNO and the Member jointly sought an order requiring the Member to appear before the Panel for an oral reprimand.
The Panel accepted the Joint Submission on Order, concluding that the proposed penalty was reasonable and in the public interest.
