Jason Proctor reports:
B.C.’s college of registered nurses has handed a 30-day suspension to a nurse who accessed the private medical records of 74 Vancouver Island Health Authority patients without permission.
The health authority fired Jennifer Goodman after the breach came to light. Although the incidents occurred during 2013 and 2014, the nurse’s college only settled on its discipline last month.
Read more on CBC News. After reading the notice on the professional association’s site, it seems clear that she demonstrated her willingness to behave responsibly by taking remedial education and disclosing her past wrongdoing to her new employer. Is a 30-day suspension years after the fact really necessary?
I think a 30-day suspension may be appropriate – or even too weak – in some cases, but discipline needs to be timely. Why did it take so long for the college to act on this? When did this breach first come to light?