Nurse found not guilty of manslaughter suspended by CNO

Nurse suspended by CNO A nurse who was found not guilty of manslaughter for turning off a patient's life support has been suspended.

A nurse found not guilty of manslaughter after removing a patient from life support in 2014 has been suspended by a disciplinary committee.

The College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) suspended Joanna Flynn for five months for committing professional misconduct in March 2014.

Flynn had pleaded guilty to two charges of professional misconduct.

In its ruling, the committee said Flynn “contravened the standards of practice of the profession and engaged in dishonourable and unprofessional conduct by discontinuing life support for a client without the required medical authorization and failing to record that medical authorization to discontinue life support had been refused by the responsible physician.”

In March 2014, Flynn removed Deanna Leblanc from life support at Georgian Bay General Hospital. She did so without the permission of a doctor, which she testified was allowed under the guidelines laid out by the CNO.

A point of contention in her manslaughter trial was whether she coerced Leblanc’s husband for consent.

The committee also order Flynn complete remedial activities, inform employers about her discipline hearing and inform the College of all nursing employers.