Former B.C. nurse suspended after giving vulnerable client anti-vaccine information

A former registered nurse in West Kelowna has been suspended for four weeks after giving a vulnerable client anti-vaccine information and recommending "alternative pseudoscience" treatments, according to B.C.'s nursing college.

According to the terms of aconsent agreement posted Thursday on the B.C. College of Nurses and Midwives site,Carole Garfield was under investigation for actions that happened in September 2021.

The college says Garfield contacted the client when she was off duty, using her personal mobile phone and emailto give information against the COVID-19 vaccine.

The exact nature of the "pseudoscience modalities" Garfield recommended to the client were not listed in the college's notice.

Garfield's nursing licence was cancelled back in April, according to the college's registry. It's unclear how exactly the four-week suspension will be applied. CBC News has reached out to the college for more information.

In addition to her month-long suspension and a public reprimand, Garfield is not allowed to be the sole nurse on duty for six months.

She will also be given education about ethics, boundariesand client confidentiality, as well as the province's professional nursing standards.

"The inquiry committee is satisfied that the terms will protect the public," read a statement from the college.

Earlier this month, a Nanaimo nurse was suspended for asking a co-worker to createfake vaccine recordsin 2021.