BC nursing regulator forced to review harassment complaint it dismissed

The BC nursing regulator dismissed a serious complaint about a nurse whose mental health so worried a physician that they reported it.

While the doctor was concerned for patient safety following the nurse’s bizarre and unsettling behaviour, the nursing regulator completed an “inadequate” investigation and missed the “core point” of the complaint, an independent board has found.

“I cannot understand how the BC College of Nurses and Midwives can dismiss a complaint from a physician professionally obliged to report, alleging that a nurse appears to have a ‘mental break from reality,’” the Health Professionals Review Board of BC said in a recently published March 9 decision.

“I am especially confounded because the BC College of Nurses and Midwives has statutory duties and obligations to the public and professions under the (Health Professions) Act.”

No names were given in the decision, or where it took place, but the case involves an anesthesiologist who received “incoherent, insulting,” and aggressive Facebook messages from a nurse she’d briefly worked with two years earlier.

“I just wanted to message you and to tell you that you developed bad… I developed to be a very smart, bright, and beautiful woman,” one message read. “There is absolutely nothing wrong with me. You developed bad.”

More messages followed.

Another said that the anesthesiologist was “ugly inside and out” and to tell her colleague she has a “developmental delay” as “I think she’s unaware that she has a horse face.”

The anesthesiologist could barely remember the nurse, but was concerned for her mental health, and her fitness to practise, so reported the matter to the nursing regulator, the BC College of Nurses and Midwives.

The College disciplines around 50 nurses a year for professional misconduct, but it is often incredibly vague in the information it puts out to the public. Facts about a nurse’s misconduct are often very unclear, as is the reasoning for the sanctions handed out.

After the anesthesiologist’s complaint, the College took it to the nurse, who responded by making more allegations about the anesthesiologist. 

The Review Board said these allegations showed likely unprofessional conduct, competence to practice, and mental health issues that impaired the nurse’s ability to practice.

“The failure to take steps to investigate… is especially problematic given these specific allegations and extra problematic when coupled with the (College’s) duty to investigate,” the Review Board said. 

The College told the nurse to get legal advice.

A letter from the nurse’s lawyer stated that she would “never engage in similar correspondence,” and that she understood it was “unprofessional and unhelpful in resolving professional practice concerns.”

The College then closed the case, saying it wasn’t possible to draw a connection between her off-duty Facebook messages and her nursing skills and that it wouldn’t take disciplinary action.

Not satisfied with the College’s response, the anesthesiologist appealed to the Health Professionals Review Board of BC.

The Review Board’s response to the College’s investigation was scolding.

“It took only minimal intake steps, gathered no independent evidence, conducted no interviews, and did not meaningfully assess the allegations concerning mental health, fitness to practise, or ethical conduct,” the Review Board ruled.

“Given that the complaint clearly raised matters… (of) unprofessional conduct, competence to practise, and possible mental impairment, the lack of substantive investigative steps represented a serious gap between the goals of an investigation and the actions taken.”

The Review Board found that the College offered no transparent reasoning for some of its conclusions and that it failed to address ethical practice and College standards.

“The Review Board found that dismissing a complaint that plainly fell within multiple categories of… (the Health Professional) Act without explanation was inconsistent with the law, the evidence, and the College’s public protection mandate,” the decision reads.

The complaint will now be sent back to the BC College of Nurses and Midwives for another review.