Montmartre nurse fined $12,000 fine for mismanaging medication

A Montmartre nurse will pay $12,000 after mismanaging medication in the long-term care facility where she worked.

Ashley Storrey cried during her brief address to the Saskatchewan Association of Licensed Practical Nurses (SALPN) discipline committee in Regina on Wednesday morning.

“I sincerely regret the mistakes that I have made,” Storrey said, voice shaking, at the conclusion of her misconduct hearing.

Storrey pleaded guilty to SALPN’s charges of professional incompetence, professional misconduct and failure to comply with the bylaws per the Licensed Practical Nurses Act, 2000, as well as having breached the code of ethics and standards of practice for LPNs.

The charges stem from events in April 2016, when Storrey worked for the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region at the Montmartre Health Centre.

On multiple occasions between April 18 and 22, she removed pills from their packaging and placed them in her pocket. She also put a syringe in her pocket. In one instance, she failed to deliver two pills to a resident.

In one case, she removed a drug intended for a resident and gave it to another employee at the health centre.

She failed to make appropriate notes on the medication administration records.

She failed to lock the narcotics drawer in the medication room, and failed to lock the medication cart.

She counted narcotics alone, without another nurse present.

During one shift, she appeared to be unfocused and falling asleep.

The discipline committee agreed with the penalty as submitted by investigation committee lawyer Darcia Schirr.

Schirr presented a summary of facts, which were agreed to by Storrey and her lawyer, Amanda Quayle. Due to Storrey’s guilty plea, complete details of the circumstances surrounding the complaint were not presented.

Storrey has not practised nursing since June 22, 2016. She has worked since last July as a continuing care aide in Fillmore.

“She has effectively and practically been suspended already for 14 months,” said Schirr.

The penalty of a six-month suspension will be considered time served.

Storrey has already completed an online code of ethics course, and is further mandated to take an online health record documentation course from Saskatchewan Polytechnic.

Schirr said a financial penalty of $12,000 is “a fair and reasonable amount” that totals nearly half the costs of the investigation and hearing. If the amount is not paid by Sept. 1, 2020, Storrey’s licence will be suspended.

For two years, Storrey will be required to provide a copy of the committee’s decision to her future nursing employers.

Storrey, 33, became a LPN in 2006 in Ontario and worked for seven years in Montmartre.

Prior to this process, said Quayle, Storrey had never been the subject of a complaint, nor disciplined by her employer.

Schirr alluded to allegations that Storrey tampered with medication cards and stole hydromorphone. After the allegations were made in April 2016, surveillance cameras were installed at the health centre.

After employers examined three days of video — from Storrey’s shifts on April 18, 21 and 22 — plus a review of documentation and witness interviews, Storrey was suspended from work and later fired.

An RCMP investigation did not result in charges and, as Storrey’s lawyer Amanda Quayle stated, “Those are not charges that are alleged against Ms. Storrey” by SALPN either.

Schirr said there was “no indication that any patients were harmed in that tampering. … They caught it before the medication was distributed.”

Don Robinson, chair of the discipline committee, wondered whether Storrey should be subject to random drug screening in her future work.

As there was no evidence to suggest a substance abuse disorder, Schirr said, it was “not something we felt we could seek.”

“There has to be a rational connection between the evidence and the sanction,” said Schirr.

Quayle said Storrey offered in May 2016 to consent to a drug screening, but her employer declined the offer.