Canadian nursing college revokes license of Elizabeth Wettlaufer who killed 8 patients in her care

Canadian nurse Elizabeth Wettlaufer serving life term for killing eight elderly patients in her care has had her nursing license revoked officially on Tuesday (25 July).

The five-member committee, consisting three nurses and two members of the public, of the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) took the decision after finding Wettlaufer guilty of professional misconduct. The CNO alleged that the 50-year-old had intentionally overdosed her patients with insulin to murder them.

The panel also called her actions "a violation of public trust in the most horrific way possible", while the head of the committee Grace Fox called the case "the most egregious and disgraceful conduct this panel has ever considered", the BBC reported.

The development came a month after Wettlaufer was jailed for the murders. She had killed five women and three men in two nursing homes between 2007 and 2014. The woman has also admitted to trying to kill six other patients in her care.

Prosecutors have quoted her saying that she had overdosed her patients after feeling an "urge to kill". They said Wettlaufer had claimed that those feelings would only go away when she murdered her victims.

An investigation into the nursing home deaths was started in September 2016 after Toronto police were alerted to disturbing information that Wettlaufer had given to a psychiatric hospital in Toronto – Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). She even called the CNO to confess her crimes, but the disciplinary action against her was put on hold until her criminal trial was over.

She was arrested and formally charged in October 2016.

The incidents took place in three Ontario long-term care facilities where Wettlaufer worked as a registered nurse and at a private home. Many of the victims had dementia and ranged in age from 75 to 96.