The Saskatchewan nurse found guilty of professional misconduct for writing on Facebook about her grandfather’s health-care experience has been slapped with a $26,000 fine.

In a written decision issued this week, the Saskatchewan Registered Nurses’ Association (SRNA) ordered Carolyn Strom to pay a $1,000 fine plus $25,000 toward the cost of the disciplinary process — which has already cost in the ballpark of $150,000.

Strom’s lawyer, Marcus Davies, said he is saddened and angered by the hefty penalty and is filing an appeal.

The SRNA has given Strom until July 1 to pay the $1,000 fine and three years to pay the $25,000, which works out to payments of more than $700 a month. If Strom fails to pay by those times, her nursing licence will be suspended.

Davies calls the penalty “absolutely devastating” and said Strom has “no choice” but to appeal.

“Because of the size of the financial penalty, there’s no way she can face that reasonably,” he said.

During a penalty hearing earlier this year, Davies argued that Strom should not be asked to pay for the costs of the disciplinary process because everything could have been avoided if the two parties had instead entered into a consensual resolution agreement (CRA). The SRNA disagreed.

“The simple fact is that the matter was not resolved with a CRA,” the SRNA’s discipline committee noted in its written decision.

“The fees paid by the membership allow the SRNA to fulfil its statutory mandate. The membership as a whole should not bear all of the costs when a registered nurse is found to have engaged in professional incompetence and/or professional misconduct.”

Strom’s case, which dates back to a Facebook post she put up in February 2015, has garnered national attention and nurses from across the country have signed onto an open letter calling on the SRNA to reverse its decision.

Some of those signees have also launched a GoFundMe campaign to cover the costs of Strom’s fine. Close to $3,000 had been collected by Friday afternoon.

Davies said Strom learned about the GoFundMe page after it had been launched.

“She’s pleased, but very surprised — very, very surprised — that that would just sort of pop up like that,” he said.

Strom is the first Saskatchewan nurse to face discipline for social media use. She was found guilty of professional misconduct after she posted a news article about end-of-life care on her personal Facebook page in February 2015 and commented about the “subpar care” her grandfather had received at a Macklin health facility. Staff at that centre filed a complaint with the SRNA.

Davies says the SRNA’s guilty finding and substantial penalty set a dangerous precedent.

“The precedent this sets means that really, taken to its extreme, a lawyer couldn’t criticize the law, a doctor couldn’t criticize the health region, so it affects us all ultimately,” he said. “If this becomes precedent, then that casts a chill everywhere.”

The SRNA discipline committee in its written decision said it “does not seek to ‘muzzle’ registered nurses from using social media or for that matter, any form of public comment. However, registered nurses making public comments and criticisms (in whatever forum) must do so with accordance with the Code of Ethics and Standards.”