The College of Nurses of Ontario has stripped a Fort Frances woman of her ability to work as a nurse in Ontario.

The ruling came after the College’s Disciplinary Committee found Lindsey Coyle committed an act of professional misconduct with the alteration of a patient’s records with respect to morphine being administered while employed at La Verendrye General Hospital in Fort Frances.

Thursday’s hearing came more than a year after Coyle was convicted on a charge of criminal negligence causing the sudden death of Hermina Fletcher, a patient at the hospital in 2015.

The court revealed patient records had been altered by Coyle to steal medication.

The action led to Fletcher receiving more morphine than prescribed.

The Disciplinary Committee supported the recommendation of a submission presented by the College’s counsel, Denise Cooney, to which Coyle accepted.

Coyle agreed to permanently resign from the College and not to pursue a nursing job in the future.

Coyle had previously had her ability to work as a nurse suspended in 2015 while the investigation into Fletcher’s death was taking place.

She was not formally charged until 2019.

Cooney described Coyle’s conduct as “an extraordinary breach of trust” to the public and the nursing profession.

The ruling also includes a provision to inform other nursing regulators if she attempts to seek a position outside of Ontario.