How nurses and nursing homes are regulated in Ontario

Shocking accusations that a nursemurdered eight elderly patients in nursing homes in southwestern Ontario are prompting questions about the province's role in regulating nurses and monitoring long-term care homes.

Elizabeth Tracy MaeWettlaufer, 49,was charged with eight counts of first-degree murder on Tuesday. She is accused of killing seven patients at the CaressantCare Nursing Home inWoodstockand one at theMeadow Park Nursing Home in London.

• Nurse faces8 murder charges in deaths of elderly patients
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The NDP member of the provincial legislaturefor London-Fanshawe, Teresa Armstrong, brought up the chargesin question periodon Tuesday.

"There is a genuine question that people are asking this morning:How do murders go undetected for nearly 10 years inside any long-term care home in Ontario?" Armstrongasked.

Premier Kathleen Wynne and Attorney General Yasir Naqvideclined to answer Armstrongdirectly. "It would be highly inappropriate for any one of us to comment extensively on the ongoing police investigation," said Naqvi.

Nursing homes and the nursing profession are highly regulated in Ontario.TheMinistry of Health and Long-Term Care is responsible for monitoring nursing homes.TheCollege of Nursesof Ontario overseesand regulates the 150,000 nursing professionals in the province.

'Rigorous' oversight of nursing homes: minister

Under provincial law, long-term care homes are required to notify the coroner of every death. An autopsy is not mandatory, but the coroner has the power toorder one.

Nursing homes are only required to notify the Health Ministry of deaths deemed "unexpected."

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Health Minister EricHoskinssaidthe system for ensuring the security and safety of nursing-home residents is"very rigorous."

"We have very stringent mechanisms in placeto provide a high level of oversight, including annual inspections of all our long-term care homes,"Hoskinstold reporters at the legislature on Monday.

It's up to the nursing homes to ensure all nursing staff have the appropriate certifications and qualifications, according to the Health Ministry.Employees mustsubmit to a criminal recordcheck and sign a declaration to disclose any subsequent criminal charges.

Hoskins declined to say whether he plans to reviewthe system in light of the murder charges.

"I know you have a lot of questions, Ontarians have a lot of questions and those questions will be answered," Hoskins said. "However, we're asking for patience and understanding at this extremely difficult moment of time."

Wettlaufer resigned day after police probe began

TheCollege of Nurses of Ontario handles complaints about nurse conduct, such as violations of privacy,mistreatment orsexualabuse.Itswebsiteshows the results of all disciplinary hearings againstnurses, as well as criminal charges relevantto their practice.

UntilWettlauferwas charged, her publicly accessiblefile with the collegeshowedno disciplinary proceedings against her during her21-year career as a registered nurse.About an hour after the police news conference revealing the charges,herfile was updated to show the murder charges.

"The College of Nurses of Ontario confirms that she is currently under investigation by the college and is not entitled to practise," said a statement from the regulator.

"The college is also co-operating with the police investigation.All publicly available information on Wettlaufer is posted on the online register Find A Nurse."

The file shows she became a registered nurse in August 1995 and resigned last month on Sept. 30, one day afterWoodstockpolice say theyreceived information that eight people had been killed in area nursing homes.

Elizabeth Tracy Mae Wettlaufer: 'She was such a nice person'

8 years ago

Duration 2:39

Woodstock, Ont., woman has been charged with killing eight elderly people at the nursing homes where she worked as a registered nurse

Wettlauferis charged with the murder of eightpeople aged 75 to 96. The deaths occurredbetweenAugust 2007 and August 2014.

HerLinked In profile shows she began workingat Caressant Care in WoodstockinJune 2007, just two months before the first death, and stopped working in 2014.