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This article was published 25/4/2017 (1242 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Manitoba woman has been fined $10,000 for stealing another woman’s identity so she could work as a nurse and get access to drugs.

In a recent decision from the College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba, Sasheen Guest — also known as Tia Smith — was found guilty of professional misconduct for posing as a registered nurse while her own registration was suspended.

Guest, who was also found guilty of the criminal offence of personation with the intent to gain advantage, had a substance abuse problem that led to her suspension as a registered nurse after a college investigation that began in November 2013 and ended in July 2014.

While her own registration was under investigation for suspected opiate addiction, she took on the identity of Tia Smith, who she knew was a registered nurse. She changed her name and got a registered nursing job as Smith, working five nursing shifts between July 20 and July 25, 2014. One of her employers complained to the college, noting her speech was slurred and she seemed out of place at work. During those shifts, she made mistakes with medication and didn’t properly fill out patients’ charts. A "significant amount" of narcotics were missing after her shifts, the college said in its decision.

Guest was charged after the college reported the allegations to police in September 2014. She pleaded guilty to the criminal offences and was sentenced in May 2015 to a four-month conditional sentence and 18 months of probation. Her guilty plea triggered the professional misconduct disciplinary process, which began last year. Guest didn’t show up to the hearing dates.

Her nursing registration has been cancelled in addition to the $10,000 fine.