B.C.’s College of Nurses and Midwives has disciplined a Kamloops nurse for giving a synthetic opioid to the wrong patient.
A college panel of inquiry said it had reached a consent agreement with Amaris Foster to address practice deficits that occurred on March 5, 2023, related to administering "hydromorphone 24 mg SR" to the wrong patient.
The college said April 12 that Foster voluntarily agreed to terms equivalent to a limit or conditions on their practice, including:
- a limit on being the sole licenced practical nurse on duty;
- working nightshift or overtime;
- from providing regulatory supervision to nursing students and other regulated health professionals; and,
- from providing orientation to new staff members.
Foster must also complete education related to medication administration.
The panel said the agreement will remain in place for a maximum of nine months of continuous nursing practice.
The college is one of 18 regulatory bodies empowered under the Health Professions Act to regulate health professions in B.C. It regulates the practice of four distinct professions: nursing, practical nursing, psychiatric nursing and midwifery.
Similar legislation in other self-regulated areas such as the legal and notary public professions also allows citizens to know about discipline issues in the public interest.
“The inquiry committee is satisfied that the terms will protect the public,” the college said.
