On May 20, 2025, a panel of the Inquiry Committee approved a consent agreement between BCCNM and Melanie Piscia of Victoria, B.C. to address practice issues that occurred between April and September 2024 related to using inappropriate physical measures on vulnerable elderly patients to gain their compliance, and issues related to safe medication administration practices.
Nurses are accountable for their nursing decisions, actions, and professional conduct. Nurses must ensure they meet BCCNM practice standards for providing safe nursing care to clients. Nurses are expected to care for all patients ethically and to respect and protect patients' worth and dignity. The former registrant is currently non-practicing. She has voluntarily agreed to terms equivalent to a limit and/or condition on their practice that would be in effect should she successfully reinstate her practicing registration.
This includes:
- A reprimand and a suspension of her registration for using inappropriate physical measures with vulnerable elderly residents to gain their compliance.
- Limits on their nursing registration to support the former registrant while they remediate their practice, including working under supervision for a period of time, not being the sole nurse on the unit, not supervising other regulated health professionals, or not providing orientation to new staff.
- Remedial education targeted to address knowledge gaps in the domains of ethics and professionalism, geriatric care, gentle persuasive approaches, medication administration, and documentation.
The Inquiry Committee is satisfied that the terms will address the professional and practice concerns that arose and will protect the public.