Skip to content

B.C. nurse banned for 5 years for mishandling opioid pain killers

Jacob Sears couldn’t provide a credible explanation for his actions, nurses college found
30147238_web1_Opioid-back-print-2
FILE - In this 2018 file photo, oxycodone pills are displayed in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

A Vancouver nurse isn’t allowed to practise for the next five years, after he was found to have mishandled opioid pain killers over a two-month period.

Over July and August of 2021, the B.C. College of Nurses and Midwives says Jacob Sears improperly accessed, handled, documented and wasted narcotic medications at multiple sites within the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority.

Specifically, the college found Sears mishandled hydromorphone and sufentanil, a more powerful derivative of fentanyl.

“His practice in this regard diverged significantly as compared with peers,” the college said in a notice published Aug. 18.

It added that Sears was unable to provide the college with a credible explanation for his actions, and agreed to give up his nursing registration on April 1.

Sears isn’t allowed to re-apply for reinstatement for five years.

READ ALSO: Scientists to take ‘CAT scan’ of B.C. volcano to locate best geothermal energy spots

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.