VANCOUVER -- A B.C. care home nurse who used a Tensor bandage to trap a resident in their room last year has been handed a three-day suspension and ordered to take remedial courses.
Mill Bay resident Susan Malloch's conduct took place at a long-term care home in May 2020, during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Details of what happened have not been made public, except in a brief summary of a consent agreement Malloch signed with the B.C. College of Nurses and Midwives.
According to the summary, the nurse restrained the resident in their room by "tying a Tensor bandage to the doorknob of the client's room and securing it to a lift outside … effectively placing the client in seclusion."
It's unclear which care home Malloch was working at or how long the resident was left in their room. The B.C. College of Nurses and Midwives told CTV News it could not share further information.
"We must always balance the need to be proactive with ensuring nurses are still willing to disclose information to us, the regulator, and be factual and accurate," a spokesperson said in statement addressing the college's general approach to consent agreements.
Malloch was also found to have administered a nebulizer – a device the turns liquid medication into a mist – without a doctor's order and against a recommendation made to long-term care homes that nebulizers "not be used unless N95 masks are available," according to the summary.
The nurse agreed to have her certificate of registration suspended for three days and to complete remedial courses that were not specified in the summary.
"The inquiry committee is satisfied that the terms will protect the public," it reads.
