A nurse who worked at a Lake Country long-term care home has been suspended from the profession for three years after she lied to the elderly widower of a former client about having cancer and accepted $16,000 from him.
A recent consent agreement from the British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives says Carey Motloch cared for a client between 2014 and 2017 and developed a friendship with her elderly spouse.
After the client died, Motloch and the elderly man began meeting for coffee, and the man's daughter reported seeing him text Motloch that he loved her in December 2017.
When the daughter raised concerns with her father about his attachment to Motloch, the man said Motloch had cancer and was struggling financially, according to the consent agreement. The man also told another staff member at the care home that Motloch was “riddled with cancer.”
But Motloch did not have cancer.
The relationship between Motloch and the man appears to have continued for some time, and in June 2019, the daughter became concerned her father had been giving Motloch money.
Over a four-month period, the man gave Motloch $16,000 by way of four cheques. The college says Motloch wrote the cheques and had the man sign them.
“She asserted that the cheques were in exchange for specific items she sold the spouse through a buy and sell business,” the college states. “No records of the items or their sale were provided and the specific items were not found among the spouse's personal effects.”
It's not clear in the consent agreement if the money was ever returned to the man. According to online records, there does not appear to have been any criminal charges laid against Motloch in connection to the allegations.
“Nurses are prohibited from engaging in activities that result in inappropriate financial or personal benefit to themselves or loss to the client. Nurses do not accept a bequest from a client,” the college states.
“These prohibitions are in place to protect patients and their families in light of the significant power differential and relative vulnerability between patients and caregivers.”
In a separate incident, the college also claims Motloch entered into a relationship with the son of another client, sometime after the woman was admitted to the facility in April 2017.
“In early 2018, after a coworker witnessed an overly familiar interaction, Ms. Motloch advised management of the relationship,” the college says.
“She had to rely on coworkers to care for and assist with the client given the boundary issues inherent in the dual (personal and professional) role and being a sole nurse on duty.”
Nurses are prohibited from entering into romantic relationships with a client or a client's family or friends.
Motloch has since let her registration with the British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives lapse. But as a result of these violations, Motloch has agreed to not apply for reinstatement for at least three years.
“Should she apply at a future date, she would be subject to the scrutiny of the Registration Committee to determine if she met the criteria for fitness to practice, nursing competence, and good character,” the College says.
