The executive director of the College of Nurses of Ontario says they didn’t get enough information from long-term care homes about Elizabeth Wettlaufer.
Anne Coghlan continued her testimony at the public inquiry into long-term care homes on Wednesday, after first taking the stand on Tuesday.
WATCH: Ex-nurse serial killer Elizabeth Wettlaufer sentenced
Coghlan was asked about a number of incidents that lead up to Wettlaufer’s firing from Caressant Care in Woodstock in 2014 and said most of the incidents were “low risk.”
Two involved narcotics. In one case, Wettlaufer was reported for not testing a urine sample and then lying to family members that the results hadn’t come back yet.
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“My assessment looking at this is that this falls below the standards,” Coghlan testified.
When asked which standards in particular, she replied, “Professional standards and therapeutic nurse-client relationship.”
Coghlan said it was her job to assess the risk in each situation and whether there was risk of harm in the future. She noted that Caressant Care said Wettlaufer generally had a good attitude when approached about her mistakes.
“She was always upfront about her errors, she would say she didn’t mean to make them, she never denied the incidents, always took ownership of them,” Coghlan summarized a report from Caressant Care.
“She accepted that she made a mistake and then the comment, ‘the member just never changed her practice’ suggests potentially that this is an employer who is frustrated.”
Caressant Care has come under fire for not giving the college enough information about the errors Wettlaufer made while working there.
The College of Nurses also says Meadow Park should have reported when Wettlaufer quit working for them, because the employer knew she had overdosed the same weekend she quit.
The public inquiry is examining how Wettlaufer was able to get away with murdering and hurting patients in her care.
Her crimes went undetected until she confessed to them in the fall of 2016.
With files from 980 CFPL’s Jacquelyn LeBel.
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