For the sixth time in two months, a nurse employed in B.C.’s correctional system has been suspended for accessing “the medical records of a person not in her care,” according to the provincial regulator for the profession. Anju Khan, a licensed practical nurse, consented to a discipline order for her misconduct back in June. The B.C. College of Nurses and Midwives issued the order on Sept. 21, but did not publish notice of the order on its website until Friday. According to the notice, Khan “admitted to having accessed the medical records of a person not in her care on one occasion and consented to a seven-day suspension of her licence.” Her entry in the college’s online directory indicates the suspension will be served Oct. 9 through 15. “In directing this order, the investigation committee considered that the privacy of medical records is core to the trust that clients and others must be able to place in nurses,” reads the notice on the BCCNM website. “Privacy breaches violate that trust and can be assumed to harm both the nurse-client relationship and the sense of safety for anyone whose privacy was breached. The investigation committee was of the view that the ability of nurses to only access medical records for work-related purposes is core to the integrity of the nursing profession.” The directory lists Khan’s employer as “Surrey pre-trial.” Since August, five other nurses working in the provincial correctional system have been suspended—for periods ranging from seven to 14 days—for the same misconduct Khan admitted. Four of those other nurses are employed by the Fraser Regional Correctional Centre, while the fifth works for “Correctional Health Services.” All six, including Khan, committed their misconduct in April or May 2025 and agreed to discipline orders against them in May or June of this year. B.C. Corrections referred questions about the nurses’ conduct—such as whether those involved acted together or independently of each other—to the Provincial Health Services Authority, which declined to provide any additional context when CTV News asked about the first three cases early last month. “As a public health organization, we appreciate the critical importance of protecting patient privacy and we work diligently to reinforce this duty to our staff while also ensuring our safeguards are robust and as effective as possible,” the agency said in a statement at the time. “Accessing patient records without authorization or clinical need is inappropriate and unacceptable. As soon as we become aware of any privacy breach, we work in co-operation with the appropriate regulatory body to report the breach and assist investigators as needed.” The BCCNM also declined to elaborate on the underlying conduct when CTV News asked about the first three cases last month.
