Photo: www.nursenextdoorfranchise.com

Imelda Wright

A Kelowna woman and owner of a local Nurse Next Door franchise has lost her nursing licence for at least 18 months after admitting to financial and ethical malfeasance.

The BC College of Nurses and Midwives says it has reached a consent agreement with Imelda Wright, a registered nurse in Kelowna who was the owner of a Nurse Next Door franchise servicing the Central and North Okanagan.

Wright held a WorkSafeBC contract to provide care to a local client who needed around-the-clock care.

The regulator says Wright hired unlicensed health care aides to provide care and did not ensure that all shifts were filled, leaving the client and their family to cope on their own. She also hired the client's son—who was not a licensed care provider—to provide client care.

She billed WorkSafeBC about $33,000 for nursing care that was not provided. That money was later repaid through a claw-back. Wright also did not ensure documentation related to client care met standards.

The violations breached the terms of the WorkSafeBC contract as well as the regulator's practice and professional standards.

“BCCNM considers financial malfeasance and the failure to deliver safe, competent, and ethical care to vulnerable clients in community to fall on the most serious end of the spectrum of misconduct,” said a notice published online.

Wright has agreed to the cancellation of her nursing registration and will not reapply for it for at least 18 months. If she does reapply at that time, she will have to meet the “requirements of character, fitness, and competence requirements of the registration committee.”

Wright's LinkedIn account says she has owned the local Nurse Next Door franchise since 2017.

In a statement to Castanet, Nurse Next Door said they have "recently" been made aware of the situation and are investigating.

"Nurse Next Door is a premium provider with strong care, hiring and quality assurance practices and we take matters that compromise these core tenets very seriously," said the company.