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B.C. nurse disciplined for medication, patient care problems

Isaiah Mayo had issues with opioid handling, patient assessment, documentation and professional accountability and responsibility.
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Nurses and midwives in B.C. are regulated by the B.C. College of Nurses and Midwives.

The B.C. College of Nurses and Midwives has restricted the practice of an Alert Bay nurse after finding he failed to adhere to standards involving medication administration and patient documentation.

A college panel of the inquiry committee decision dated Dec. 17 said Isaiah Mayo, from July to August 2022, had particular issues with opioid handling and patient assessment, documentation, and professional accountability and responsibility.

“During the relevant time period, Mr. Mayo did not conduct or document patient assessments, appropriately or at all, and he did not provide adequate patient reports (handover reports) to his nursing colleagues when he left the worksite, which impeded communication regarding patients' care,” the decision said.

Mayo voluntarily agreed to terms equivalent to limits or conditions on their practice. The panel said they were created to give Mayo support to provide safe, competent, and ethical nursing care in the future.

The discipline includes:

• a public reprimand;

• limits on his registration prohibiting him from being the sole registered nurse on duty, having more than one employer, having more than one unit or area of work, working in a specialty or high acuity area, having regulatory oversight of students, providing mentorship or orientation to staff, working in a leadership position, or being in charge;

• oversight and supervision of his nursing practice;

• remedial education in physical assessment, medication administration, documentation, professional standards, and nursing ethics; and,

• a learning plan to assist Mayo to consolidate his nursing knowledge and improve his nursing skills in order to provide safe and competent care.

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.