A Victoria nurse has agreed to a three-month suspension and must wait a year before she can work alone after she failed to follow the rules for dispensing narcotics, according to a discipline notice published by the B.C. College of Nurses & Midwives.
In late August, an inquiry committee approved a consent agreement between the college and nurse Rebecca Humberstone to address incidents that occurred in February and March of 2022 related to narcotics-handling.
The infractions include a lack of documentation around administration of opioids and assessment of patients before and afterwards.
“This conduct places patients at risk of inappropriate and dangerous medication administration, and risks other practitioners overdosing a patient because there is no record of prior narcotics administration,” said the college.
Humberstone was found to have breached a previous consent agreement by failing to ensure adequate supervision of medication administration practices, and stopping oversight without telling the regulator she was no longer working.
“The Registrant also has a prior agreement for a separate breach of a Consent Agreement,” says the posted complaints and discipline notice. “Progressive discipline has been put in place to ensure both specific and general deterrence of such conduct.”
Humberstone voluntarily agreed to limits and conditions on her practice, including a three-month suspension effective Aug. 25 and public reprimand for “a pattern of breaching a consent agreement” as well as a “pattern of deficient narcotics handling.”
Humberstone has a history of suspension and conditions and limits on her practice from 2019 through 2023.
Humberstone has also agreed to limits prohibiting her from being the sole RN on duty, nurse in charge, working overtime and providing supervision of students or others for a 12-month period.
She has agreed to remedial education.
The B.C. College of Nurses & Midwives said in a statement that rules and regulations around administration of drugs are designed to mitigate human errors and protect patients.
In light of the potential of life-altering harm for patients, “sanctions such as suspensions are designed to emphasize that early reporting and immediate action are mandatory when medication errors occur,” the college said.
The college did not reveal the scenarios that led to the consent agreements, the number of patients involved, or if any patients were harmed.
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