Fake Hospital Nurse
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Fake Hospital Nurse
Fake nurse remained employed at B.C. hospital despite long list of complaints against her, court filing says | CBC News Loaded
Despite several instances of misconduct — and despite the fact she had no actual nursing credentials — Brigitte Cleroux worked at B.C. Women's Hospital for six months after she was suspended, a response to a class-action lawsuit has revealed.
Bethany Lindsay · CBC News · Posted: Jun 13, 2022 12:45 PM PT | Last Updated: June 13
In July 2020, just two weeks into her year of posing as a gynecological nurse at B.C. Women's Hospital, Brigitte Cleroux was written up for "inappropriate" and disrespectful conduct toward a colleague, according to a new legal filing.
Within four months on the job at the Vancouver hospital, Cleroux had allegedly been placed on administrative leave and received a written warning related to her unprofessional and judgmental behaviour with a patient.
By December 2020, Cleroux was allegedly suspended from work for a day in response to another list of complaints, including loudly saying she wanted to "punch or hit" a colleague in the face, using force to straighten a patient's arm while applying a blood pressure cuff, and being "physically and verbally inappropriate" with another patient while inserting an intravenous line.
Despite all this — and despite the fact she had no actual nursing credentials — Cleroux worked at the hospital for another six months after the suspension.
These revelations come courtesy of a response filed Friday by the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) to a proposed class action lawsuit launched on behalf of patients who claim PHSA is liable for the harm they suffered under Cleroux's care.
The PHSA response denies liability for Cleroux's actions, but reveals several new allegations of inappropriate behaviour during her time in the Vancouver hospital's Post Anesthetic Care Unit between June 22, 2020, and June 23, 2021.
According to the response, Cleroux's deception was only discovered in June 2021 after more complaints about her unprofessional and aggressive behaviour toward patients and colleagues.
Cleroux, 50, has a long criminal history across the country, including 67 convictions as an adult, and has pretended to be a nurse or school teacher in at least four provinces and two U.S. states.
She is currently awaiting trial in Vancouver for fraud and personation in relation to her activities at B.C. Women's Hospital, and prosecutors have said an investigation is underway into further allegations of assault.
Cleroux is currently behind bars after receiving a seven-year prison sentence for crimes including personation, assault with a weapon and assault related to her time posing as a nurse at a fertility clinic and a dental clinic in Ottawa.
The proposed class action lawsuit was filed in December by representative plaintiff Miranda Massie on behalf of all patients who received treatment from Cleroux at B.C. Women's Hospital. The notice of claim alleges negligence by PHSA for hiring Cleroux, and holds the health authority liable for battery.
In its response, PHSA denies that it should have known Cleroux wasn't a qualified nurse, or that her deception should have been discovered with due diligence.
"At all material times PHSA took all reasonable steps to properly review Cleroux's suitability and credentials as a registered nurse and to monitor, supervise and oversee Cleroux," the response says.
It goes on to say that when Cleroux was hired, provincial health authorities were struggling to keep up with the demand for nursing staff caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
She applied for a job using the name Melanie Smith, which matched the identity of a nurse registered in B.C. at the time, according to the response. No such name is currently listed in the public online registry for the B.C. College of Nurses and Midwives.
In a phone interview for the B.C. Women's Hospital job, Cleroux "appeared professional, cordial and enthusiastic," according to the response.
However, the response also notes that Cleroux could not provide a registration number for the B.C. nursing college, explaining she didn't have one yet because she had recently moved from Ontario.
Nonetheless, she was hired, and according to PHSA she "actively took steps to appear sufficiently competent in the day-to-day tasks required of a registered nurse in the PACU." The response says Cleroux went as far as to make recommendations for improving nursing care in the unit.
Her interpersonal behaviour was another matter, however.
The final straw, according to the PHSA response, was an incident on June 4, 2021, when a patient overheard Cleroux talking about another patient in a "loud and cavalier manner."
When a co-worker told Cleroux the patient might file a complaint, Cleroux became "aggressive and dismissive," and continued to act that way in two meetings with staff, the response says.
She was placed on administrative leave once again and the PHSA says it launched an investigation, finally confirming that Cleroux was neither Melanie Smith, nor a licensed nurse.
None of the allegations in the proposed class action or the response have been proven in court.
Cleroux is scheduled to make her next appearance in provincial court in Vancouver on June 23.
Bethany Lindsay is a journalist for CBC News in Vancouver with a focus on the courts, health, science and social justice issues. Questions or news tips? Get in touch at bethany.lindsay@cbc.ca or on Twitter through @bethanylindsay.
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Fake nurse worked for months at B.C. hospital despite several complaints: court filing
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Court filing says fake nurse worked for months at B.C. hospital despite several complaints
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An imposter nurse who is now behind bars was disciplined multiple times for “inappropriate behaviour” before she was fired from the B.C. Women’s Hospital, a new court filing has revealed.
Brigitte Cleroux was sometimes “insensitive to her surroundings” and “disrespectful” to patients and coworkers, according the Provincial Health Services Authority .
She was placed on administrative leave on Oct. 20, 2020, suspended without pay on Dec. 1, 2020, and placed on paid leave pending the results of an investigation on June 7, 2021.
Nevertheless, the Gatineau, Que., woman remained fraudulently employed until her termination on June 23, 2021.
The new details about Cleroux’s time at the hospital are contained in the health authority’s recently filed response to a proposed class-action lawsuit that was submitted last year on behalf of a former patient.
The class action alleges anyone who was treated by Cleroux at the women’s hospital between June 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021, suffered battery, and holds the health authority responsible.
In its court filing, the agency denies all liability for her actions, arguing it didn’t “authorize” any of them, and because she defrauded them when applying for employment, she was never a true employee.
According to the response, Cleroux’s eventual termination came after a handful of problematic incidents at the hospital, where she worked in the post-anaesthetic care unit from June 22, 2020, to June 23, 2021.
In August 2020, she pressured a student nurse to practice inserting an IV on another nurse in the unit while two patients were nearby, and was overheard “laughing loudly.”
That October, she was also overheard saying she wanted to “punch or hit” an anaesthesia assistant in the face, and was accused of being “physically and verbally inappropriate” when she failed to ensure a patient felt comfortable with an IV insertion.
Around December, the response alleges Cleroux gave narcotics to a patient who was being transferred to another unit, in violation of medical standards. An anaesthesiologist had also raised concerns about Cleroux’s use of force in straightening a patient’s arm to place a blood pressure cuff.
Cleroux has not completed nursing school or held a valid nursing licence anywhere in Canada, but according to the health authority’s filing, recommended improvements to nursing practices in the unit, and took other steps to “appear sufficiently competent.”
The agency only discovered her true identity upon initiating an investigation into her conduct on June 7, 2021, after she had reportedly been “aggressive and dismissive” toward another staffer who raised an issue of patient confidentiality with her.
On June 18, 2021, the authority contacted the BC Colleges of Nurses and Midwives and confirmed Cleroux was not, in fact, “Melanie Smith.”
The imposter had used falsified credentials in the name of a real nurse who is registered to work in B.C. to pass two interviews, a reference check, and a scan of the nursing college’s website.
The agency fired Cleroux five days later, and informed patients who may have been treated by her of what they had learned. It also alerted the college that Cleroux may have already posed as a nurse elsewhere in B.C., or may intend to do so again in another province.
Meanwhile, Cleroux left Vancouver for Ottawa, where she successfully applied as Melanie Smith to work as a nurse in a fertility clinic and women’s health centre. While employed between July 26, 2021, and Aug. 11, 2021, her duties included administering medication and injections.
She quit after a nurse launched a complaint with the nursing college there, and realized Melanie Smith was not a registered nurse in Ontario. By that time, Cleroux had already secured a position at a maxillofacial surgery clinic, but was arrested by police shortly afterward.
According to the health authority response, Cleroux has worked as a fake nurse in Alberta, B.C. and Ontario, and posed as a teacher in Alberta. She has more than 60 criminal convictions, mostly for fraud, theft, personation and using false documents, plus convictions for larceny and possession of counterfeit documents in the United States.
In April, she was sentenced to seven years behind bars by an Ontario judge, minus time already served. She pleaded guilty to seven offences after being charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm, assault with a weapon, obtaining by false pretense, uttering forged documents, and personation to gain advantage.
In B.C., Cleroux has been charged with fraud over $5,000 and personation to gain advantage in relation to her work with the health authority. She remains the subject of multiple investigations by Vancouver police.
In its response, the health agency said it never knew she was an imposter, “nor should it have known,” and that it took “all reasonable steps” to review her suitability for the role and oversee her work.
The allegations in the class action case have not yet been tested in court.
Cleroux is scheduled to appear in a Vancouver provincial court on June 23.
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