Nurse loses registration over malpractice 'on the most serious end of the spectrum': BCCNM

B.C.'s Imelda Wright, a franchise owner of a Nurse Next Door servicing Kelowna and Vernon, has agreed to cancel her nursing registration for at least 18 months. (LinkedIn)

A B.C. woman has agreed to cancel her nursing registration for at least 18 months after failing to provide round-the-clock care for a patient with “significant” needs.

The B.C. College of Nurses and Midwives posted a summary of its consent agreement with Kelowna’s Imelda Wright online, detailing multiple ways in which she breached the terms of a contract with WorkSafeBC, as well as general practice and professional standards.

Imelda is a franchise owner with Nurse Next Door—a company that provides 24-hour senior home health care—that serves the Kelowna and Vernon regions, according to BCCNM.

While she was responsible for a client in the community, the college says she hired unlicensed health-care aids to provide care—including the client’s son—and failed to ensure all shifts were filled.

Wright also billed WorkSafeBC approximately $33,000 for nursing care, despite the fact that this was not provided to the client.

BCCNM says that bill was later repaid “by way of claw-back.”

She also failed to ensure “appropriate delegation of care tasks to unrelated health-care aids,” according to the notice.

In addition, the college says Wright’s documentation related to client care failed to meet its standards.

“BCCNM considers financial malfeasance and the failure to deliver safe, competent, and ethical care to vulnerable clients in community to fall on the most serious end of the spectrum of misconduct,” the notice reads.

When asked for more details about the case, such as a timeline of the breaches or how BCCNM was notified about them, the college said it was unable to disclose anything beyond what was included in the consent agreement.

“The college acts on written complaints submitted by the public, which can include members of the public, employers, and other health-care agencies,” a spokesperson told CTV News by email Tuesday. 

Should Wright decide to reapply for her nursing registration once the terms of the consent agreement end, the college says she’ll have to meet “character, fitness and competence” requirements.