BC nurse reprimanded for 7 years of poor performance

A BC nurse, who was inadequate at doing her job, has been publicly reprimanded following seven years of poor performance.

According to a May 17 BC College of Nurses and Midwives decision, Richmond-based Registered Nurse Penelope Thornhill lacked skills in multiple areas of the job and failed to take responsibility.

The nurse signed a consent agreement with the regulator admitting to a long list of insufficient skills.

"(Thornhill) had deficient knowledge and skills… in the areas of responsibility and accountability, patient assessment, critical thinking, organization and prioritization, documentation, medication administration, wound care, central line care, and sterile technique," the decision reads.

The regulator says the conduct took place between March 2016 and February 2023, but it makes no mention of why Thornhill's poor performance was allowed to carry on for so many years.

It appears the nurse is no longer working as Thornhill agreed to complete a series of courses before returning to nursing.

She'll have to complete education in clinical skill consolidation, assessment, pharmacology, and psychomotor skills, along with ethics and professionalism before she works again.

When and if she returns to work for 12 months Thornhill will be prohibited from working in a critical care or high acuity setting, supervising others, being the sole nurse on duty and working autonomously.

She'll also be supervised for the first four months back on the job and have to follow a learning plan.

The nursing college says it satisfied that the terms will protect the public.

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