A Surrey nurse once disciplined for sleeping on duty has again been suspended, this time for multiple failures in his practice, including falsifying records.
A B.C. College of Nurses and Midwives public notice said Eskhander Balawag will have his registration suspended for three weeks as a result of the infractions.
Those problems, the panel said, included:
• falsifying clinical records;
• failing to provide appropriate clinical care;
• failing to follow physician orders;
• failing to document in a complete or timely manner or at all,;
• failing to follow proper medication administration procedures;
• failing to respond to urgent clinical concerns;
• failing to use aseptic technique;
• failing to follow facility policy, procedures, or guidelines; and;
• having previous similar conduct and competency issues with no improvement despite significant remedial education and mentoring.
The college said Balawag voluntarily agreed to limits and/or conditions on his practice including: a suspension or nursing registration for three weeks and a public reprimand.
Balawag also must have limits on his practice that require him to work for one employer and at a single practice site.
He is also prohibited from practicing in critical care areas, being the sole registered nurse on duty, being the nurse in-charge, working night shifts, having regulatory oversight of students and orientating new staff members.
There will also be a period of supervision of Balawag’s nursing practice for a minimum of three and half months as well as remedial education in ethics and boundaries and documentation.
Balawag must also develop a learning plan, which will be shared with his employer and with the college.
Past discipline
A college public notice issued April 21, 2023 said Balawag had been working in an intensive care unit between November 2020 and July 2021 when multiple practice deficiencies came to light.
Those issues included:
• not checking blood glucose levels when required;
• not following medication administration procedures;
• not administering medications as required;
• administering the wrong dose of a medication;
• providing incomplete physical assessments;
• not initiating physician orders;
• not documenting in a complete and timely manner or at all;
• falling asleep while on duty and failing to respond to patient alarms;
• not following facility policy, procedures, or guidelines; and,
• breaching an interim undertaking wherein he promised not to work night shifts.
The college is one of 18 regulatory bodies empowered under the Health Professions Act to regulate health professions in B.C. It regulates the practice of four distinct professions: nursing, practical nursing, psychiatric nursing and midwifery.
Similar legislation in other self-regulated areas such as the legal and notary public professions also allows citizens to know about discipline issues in the public interest.
“The inquiry committee is satisfied that the terms will protect the public,” the decision said.
