BC nurse suspended for hitting hospital visitor on head with umbrella

A registered nurse in British Columbia has been suspended after striking a hospital visitor on the head with an umbrella.

The nurse – whose name and place of work have not been released – assented to a consent agreement with the British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives (BCCNM) earlier this month.

According to the BCCNM, the nurse encountered a hospital visitor who was “acting erratically” in the fall of 2020.

The visitor – a man – is said to have targeted the nurse with “demeaning and aggressive comments and gestures.”

“The Registrant encountered the visitor again soon after and, in an agitated and shaken state, struck him in the head with an umbrella, leaving a mark,” the BCCNM report explains.

The nurse is also said to have “engaged in volatile communication with or about colleagues on two occasions and in​​teracted twice with colleagues in ways they experienced as either overly familiar or inappropriate.”

According to the BCCNM, the nurse has been “reflective” and has completed coursework on anger management.

In addition, the nurse agreed to conditions on their practice, including: a condition requiring a period of supervision of their nursing practice for nine months and a limit precluding being the sole or in-charge RN on duty or working night shifts for six months, or supervising students for one year.

The nurse was also suspended from practising for two months.