BC nurse suspended for snooping on colleagues’ medical records

A BC nurse who snooped on the medical records of a dozen of his colleagues has been suspended for seven days.

According to a July 24 BC College of Nurses and Midwives decision, Vancouver Island registered nurse Martin Lapaire breached privacy rules by peeking at a family member's health records and 13 of his co-workers.

The nursing regulator said Lapaire accessed the medical records in June and August 2023 but doesn't say where he worked, only listing him as a Cobble Hill resident.

He signed a consent agreement admitting to his conduct and received a seven-day suspension.

Lapaire can now add his name to an ever-increasing list of nurses disciplined for looking at unauthorized health records.

In the last two years, more than a dozen nurses have been disciplined for the same offence.

In May a Lower Mainland nurse was suspended for two weeks after looking at a "significant" number of medical records without permission.

Other punishments have ranged up to four months for a nurse who showed "no remorse" for breaching people's privacy and looking at their records.

In late 2022, the former BC Information and Privacy Commissioner Michael McEvoy said that medical records were "disturbingly" vulnerable to being snooped on.

Along with the week-long suspension, Lapaire will also have to take a course on ethics and professionalism and complete a consulting program on standards and guidance.

The nursing regulator says it's satisfied that the terms will protect the public.

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