B.C.'s College of Nurses & Midwives has suspended a nurse for two months for hitting a hospital visitor with an umbrella.
A college inquiry committee was convened to examine the conduct of the unnamed nurse following issues that happened in October and November of 2020.
A March 1 decision from the committee said the umbrella incident happened when a hospital visitor was acting erratically.
“He targeted the registrant with demeaning and aggressive comments and gestures. The registrant encountered the visitor again soon after and, in an agitated and shaken state, struck him in the head with an umbrella, leaving a mark,” a discipline notice on the college's website said.
The nurse also engaged in volatile communications with or about colleagues on two occasions and interacted twice with colleagues in inappropriate ways, according to the notice.
The college said the nurse has reflected on the issues and has completed coursework in professionalism and anger management. They also underwent an independent medical evaluation that identified a connection between the behavioural concerns and medical conditions.
The nurse has agreed to a nursing registration suspension of two months as well as a reprimand. Various agreed-to undertakings include remedial education in workplace professionalism and regular monitoring of the nurse's fitness to practice nursing.
The college said the nurse has voluntarily agreed to limits and conditions on practice, including:
- a period of supervision of their nursing practice for nine months
- a limit precluding being the sole or in-charge RN on duty or working night shifts for six months
- supervising students for one year.
The nurse's name was withheld in the public notice in accordance with the Health Professions Act so as not to identify personal health information.
