Complaints against nurses in Alberta nearly triple in decade

CALGARY Alberta nurses racked up nearly triple the number of official complaints last year than they did in 2006, with incidents ranging from watching porn on the job and abruptly leaving a surgical unit.

In 2016, there were 265 complaints compiled by the College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta (CARNA), compared with 98 in 2006.

Of those, 92 went to hearings that produced 79 reprimands and four permanent expulsions from working under CARNA.

Most involved skills or practice shortcomings, followed by ethical issues and co-worker harassment/ abuse, while two of the complaints led to criminal charges.

The number of nurses in its membership in that decade has risen from 32,000 to nearly 38,000, said CARNA spokeswoman Margaret Ward-Jack, with the 265 complaints involving a tiny fraction of practitioners.

While it’s hard to draw a causal line between workplace stress and misconduct, it’s possible it could play a factor in some instances, said Ward-Jack.

The largest number of complaints — 269 — were filed in 2014.

One hearing dealt with an RN at the Foothills Medical Centre who was unfit to perform her duties and had left her shift without proper notice. She was ordered to undergo rehabilitation and random alcohol testing.

Other conduct heard by the tribunal included:

A nurse engaged for several ■ months in an inappropriate intimate relationship with a newly discharged mental-health patient. She was suspended from practising for six months.

A failure to respond to a call ■ about a palliative-care patient in distress for an hour, during which the patient died, part of a trend of ignoring or documenting care requests.

The insertion of a vaginal speculum, ■ a restricted activity, by a nurse who was unauthorized to take such action.

Making at least 29 errors over ■ three months in documenting narcotics administration, including fentanyl and morphine. Documentation was missing, incomplete or inaccurate.

Use of an employer’s computer ■ to access movies, soft pornography and videos for about two years.