Facts
The Member admitted that she engaged in professional misconduct. The Member was the Withdrawal Management Coordinator of a residential treatment program. The Member failed to maintain appropriate boundaries with a patient when, less than a year after his discharge from the program, the Member engaged in a personal relationship with the patient which included text messages of a sexual nature. The Member also provided money and gifts to the patient, and encouraged the patient to consume alcohol and/or other substances when the patient had recently received treatment for substance use.
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;
- sexually abused a patient;
- emotionally abused a patient; and
- engaged in conduct, relevant to the practice of nursing, that, having regard to all the circumstances, would reasonably be regarded by members as disgraceful, 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, 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. The Member cooperated with CNO and accepted responsibility by agreeing to the facts and a proposed order.