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Sean Everett Ward, 09377168
Facts
The Member admitted that he engaged in professional misconduct. The Member discussed his sex life with two of his co-workers in areas of the facility where they could have been overheard by patients. The Member also failed to maintain the boundaries of the therapeutic nurse-client relationship when he provided his phone number to a male patient for the purposes of communicating with the patient about matters unrelated to the patient’s care, when the Member purchased a blanket from the daughter of a patient, and when the Member engaged in a personal relationship with the family member of a patient by providing his phone number to the family member and going for coffee on more than one occasion.
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, 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 College of Nurses of Ontario (“CNO”) and the Member presented the Panel with a Joint Submission on Order requesting that the Panel make an order that included the following:
- an oral reprimand;
- a 3-month suspension; and
- terms, conditions and limitations including:
- attending at least 2 meetings with a Regulatory Expert; and
- employer notification for 18 months.
The Panel accepted the Joint Submission on Order, concluding that the proposed order was reasonable and in the public interest. The Panel noted that the Member cooperated with the CNO and accepted responsibility by agreeing to the facts and a proposed order.
The Panel further stated that the order illustrates that there are serious consequences for violations of the boundaries of the therapeutic nurse-client relationship.
