A woman who worked as a senior administrator at a large nursing home in Halifax has been permanently barred from working as a registered nurse in Nova Scotia.

The professional conduct committee of the College of Registered Nurses in the province has determined that Debi L. MacDonald forged her nursing licence and lied about having a master's degree.

The 34-page written decision, posted on the college's website, says a paper trail shows that MacDonald deposited money into her personal bank account that was withdrawn from trust accounts and memorial donations for nursing-home residents.

Leona Telfer, director of professional conduct services, said the information will be forwarded to Halifax Regional Police to determine whether charges are warranted.

"It's a very serious case and as you can see, they have permanently revoked her," Telfer said. "She could never work as a nurse in Nova Scotia ever again."

The two-day hearings took place in June and the committee made its decision Sept. 15. The college published an advertisement in a local newspaper Friday indicating the ban applies not only to Debi L. MacDonald but to all 11 of her aliases.

MacDonald was not at the hearings to defend herself and was not represented by a lawyer, according to the college document. The document said the misconduct occurred between September 2005 and July 2008, when her licence was suspended.

Private investigator hired

The college had hired a private investigator to look into MacDonald's background and qualifications after her employer expressed concerns about her conduct. Among the investigator's findings was a reference from a non-existent nursing home, the college said in the document.

The investigator called the number for MacDonald's supposed superior at the home and got her mother.

The licence MacDonald was found to have forged was for a nurse-practitioner. A policy consultant with the college testified that she examined the college's database and concluded MacDonald had never been licensed as a nurse-practitioner in Nova Scotia.

W. Brian Smith, the chair of the professional conduct committee, wrote in his decision that the group "found that most of the allegations against Ms. MacDonald have been proved on a balance of probabilities which are the applicable standards in matters such as this."

MacDonald's conduct was "deserving of the most serious and permanent" punishment, Smith wrote.

"Ms. MacDonald is a person who cannot be trusted, she expresses no remorse, there are no mitigating factors found by the Panel, the proven allegations are grave and find their basis in Ms. MacDonald's dishonesty," the report concluded.

The committee criticized MacDonald's employer for waiting 10 months before bringing its concerns forward. A publication ban was imposed against naming the employer.

"It was imposed by the professional conduct committee with respect to any information which could identify patients and facilities where Ms. Macdonald was employed in Nova Scotia," Telfer said

She said the college will notify all the other provinces about MacDonald and the reasons why her licence was revoked.