Nurse 'did not adequately assess' or care for unresponsive person, B.C. college finds

A nurse holds a tablet in this stock image from Shutterstock.

A former Kelowna nurse has been disciplined by her professional college for her inadequate response to an unresponsive person at the entrance of the emergency department where she was working in September 2021.

Katherine Lowe allowed her registration with the BC College of Nurses and Midwives to lapse, but agreed to a public reprimand for her conduct, which breached the college's standards of ethical practice, documentation, client-focused provision of care and duty to provide care.

"Ms. Lowe found an Indigenous person apparently pulseless and unresponsive in the vestibule of the emergency department," a public notice posted on the BCCNM website reads.

"Ms. Lowe did not adequately assess or perform any resuscitative measures for them, concluding they were deceased. Further, she did not meet documentation standards related to the said incident."

The notice does not specify the facility in which Lowe was working at the time.

In a consent agreement with the college, Lowe agreed to a public reprimand as well as the following conditions:

• If she successfully re-applies for registration with the college, her registration will be suspended for two months.
• And she must take "remedial education in documentation, ethics, and Indigenous cultural safety."