On This Page
Anita Bepat, 9412073
Facts
The Member admitted that she engaged in professional misconduct. In January 2019, the Member was selected for Practice Assessment as part of the Quality Assurance (QA) Program at the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO). The Member failed to complete the Practice Assessment. After numerous extensions and accommodations were offered to the Member, and the Member still did not complete the required practice assessment activities, the QA Committee imposed a restriction on the Member’s certificate of registration prohibiting the Member from engaging in clinical practice in June 2019.
The Member had been employed at a long-term care facility since May 2018 and engaged in clinical practice after she was restricted from clinical practice, until her termination from the facility in June 2020, when the facility discovered the restriction.
The Member eventually completed the practice assessment activities and the restriction on clinical practice was lifted.
The Member had previously been found to have committed professional misconduct by CNO’s Discipline Committee in 2004 and 2012.
Discipline Committee’s Findings
Based on the Member’s admissions, a panel of the Discipline Committee of the CNO (the “Panel”) found that the Member:
- failed to cooperate with the Quality Assurance Committee or any assessor appointed by that committee; 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 unprofessional.
Discipline Committee’s Order
The 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 2 meetings with a Regulatory Expert; and
- participation in the next available QA program cycle with the CNO.
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.
