B.C.’s College of Nurses and Midwives has suspended a Nanaimo nurse as a result of problems with medication and documentation.
On April 12, an inquiry committee approved a consent agreement between the college and Jennifer Smith to address practice issues that occurred between May 4 and Oct. 9, 2022.
A public notice said the issues related to Smith’s failure to adhere to medication administration and documentation practice standards.
Smith has been suspended for six weeks and is prohibited from handling opioids without supervision, working overtime, working as the sole regulated nurse on duty, working on more than one unit or providing care to patients in their homes.
She also cannot provide regulatory supervision to nursing students while they work to remediate their nursing practice.
Smith must take remedial education in professional responsibility and accountability, clinical decision making, ethics, documentation, and medication administration.
The college is one of 18 regulatory bodies empowered under the Health Professions Act to regulate health professions in B.C. It regulates the practice of four professions: nursing, practical nursing, psychiatric nursing and midwifery.
Similar legislation in other self-regulated areas such as the legal and notary public professions also allows citizens to know about discipline issues in the public interest.
“The inquiry committee is satisfied that the terms will protect the public,” the college said.
