Facts
The Member admitted that she engaged in professional misconduct. In April 2021, while employed by a public health agency as a Communicable Disease Investigator, the Member provided inaccurate and misleading information about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccinations to a patient, including that they had the “deadly” variant, that the media was exaggerating COVID-19, and that the patient should not rush to get vaccinated because we do not know what is in it and could cause long term effects.
In January 2022, the Member attended a hospital as a private nurse for a patient with COVID-19. The Member administered a purported Vitamin C infusion to the patient, based on a misrepresentation from the patient’s daughter that the treatment had been approved by the hospital’s upper management. The treatment had not been ordered or approved by the treating physician; however, the Member did not take steps to verify or confirm the existence of a physician’s order.
The Member provided a falsified vaccination certificate to a regional public health agency which hired her as an immunizer. The Member also made inaccurate and misleading statements to a pregnant patient and her six-year old child to discourage them from becoming vaccinated against COVID-19.
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 disgraceful, 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 6-month suspension;
- terms, conditions and limitations, including:
- attending a minimum of 2 meetings with a Regulatory Expert; and
- employer notification for 12 months.
The Panel accepted the Joint Submission on Order, concluding that the proposed penalty 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.