Nurse sanctioned by provincial body

A Manitoba nurse has admitted to taking a shift in a Brandon intensive care unit without proper training and misrepresenting her credentials at her aesthetic clinic.

Eleonor Mascardo pleaded guilty to accepting work beyond her knowledge and skill set and demonstrating shortcomings in her skills and competency, along with accepting a shift in an intensive care unit without having the required skills, a recently published decision by the College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba said.

The decision, which was dated June 24, was published on the College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba website following a hearing before an Inquiry Committee Panel of the college in April.

Mascardo, who became a registered nurse in Manitoba in October 2022, also pleaded guilty to misrepresenting her nursing credentials, failing to disclose the names and contact information for all employers and not notifying the college that she was self-employed before providing registered nursing services.

Mascardo was fined $8,000, had to pay $5,000 and was suspended from practising for two weeks, along with other disciplinary actions, including a direction to complete a minimum of 2,015 hours of verified independent registered nursing practice in a Canadian jurisdiction, the panel said.

An agreed statement of facts laid out in the decision said Mascardo accepted and worked an RN shift at Brandon Regional Health Centre ICU on Jan. 11, 2024, despite not having a certificate of practice.

Mascardo didn’t renew her certificate of practice by the end of December 2023, and it expired Dec. 31, 2023, the decision said. It was reinstated on April 4, 2024.

The decision said she was ordered to do a blood transfusion but never started it and didn’t communicate that to other staff. She also told staff she started an IV on a patient when she hadn’t and didn’t follow orders to begin total parenteral nutrition on at least two occasions, the decision said.

“Management of various units at BRHC raised general concerns that the Registrant did not have the knowledge, skills or judgment to safely work as an RN,” the decision said.

It said management at BRHC also raised concerns that she was missing documentation and flow sheets for patients.

Mascardo received her bachelor of nursing degree in 2011 and began her master’s in nursing program in the Philippines before moving to Ontario in 2019 and to Brandon in 2020, the panel said.

In 2023, Mascardo opened her own business called Happy Skin Laser + Aesthetic Clinic and advertised she was providing aesthetic nursing services, the decision said.

While Mascardo told the college she was providing nursing services through the business, the decision said she didn’t disclose that she was self-employed by Happy Skin.

The decision said in advertising the clinic, Mascardo falsely claimed she had a “Master in Nursing” and referred to herself as an “RN” and “Registered Nurse.” The decision said she was not authorized to use those titles, as her business held no certificate of practice.

The college warned her several times that she was not authorized to use the titles of “RN” or “Registered Nurse,” but she did not remove the title until after a final warning in October 2024, the panel said.

Mascardo made a statement explaining she had made mistakes relating to her registration renewal and acknowledged it was her fault she took the ICU shift but claimed she had informed the agency before taking it, the decision said.

“The registrant acknowledged that the safety of the public was very important and they were taking accountability and responsibility for what they did,” the decision said.

The panel said aggravating factors included that Mascardo appeared to take little interest in understanding her regulatory obligations and complying with the college’s requirements and that she didn’t appear to have sufficiently considered patient safety by accepting the ICU shift.

“The Panel was concerned by the Registrant’s cavalier acceptance of the shift, particularly with no certificate of practice and no relevant experience,” the panel said. “This endangered the public and is unacceptable.”

However, the panel said it’s mitigating that she has no history of discipline or complaints and that she apologized and took responsibility for her actions and conduct.

Mascardo did not immediately respond to the Sun’s request for comment.

» sanderson@brandonsun.com