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Metro Vancouver nurse suspended after emergency room altercation, regulator says

Royal Columbian Hospital is seen in New Westminster, B.C., in 2019. Royal Columbian Hospital is seen in New Westminster, B.C., in 2019.
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A British Columbia nurse has been suspended for a month and ordered to take anger-management training after he physically fought with a patient in a Metro Vancouver emergency room, according to the provincial nursing regulator.

The New Westminster Police Department says its officers responded to the reported assault at Royal Columbian Hospital on Aug. 21, 2023.

The department told CTV News that no criminal charges were recommended following the altercation.

Last week, however, the B.C. College of Nurses and Midwives suspended nurse Errol Latchman for one month for "assaulting a vulnerable patient under his care in the emergency room."

The agency went on to say in a public advisory that the nurse "threw activated charcoal at the patient and assaulted them in the face with a closed fist."

Activated charcoal is most commonly used in emergency rooms as a treatment for poisoning or overdose.

The regulatory college said the assault happened after the patient assaulted the nurse first.

The agency has ordered Latchman to complete remedial courses in anger management and ethics before his professional registration can be restored.

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