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Misconduct in the health care profession should be taken seriously as it costs lives and money. Social scientists (especially sociologists and criminologists) are interested in the issue as it falls in the realm of white collar crime in the professions while the interest of health care professionals and nurse educators relates to concerns regarding patient safety and teaching nursing students. Misconduct by health professionals can be directed at patients, co-workers, or the employer. Operating within federal and provincial legal frameworks, health care providers, like many other professions, are governed by organizations that largely regulate themselves. This paper presents the results of disciplinary hearings involving registered nurses in a Canadian province. We analyzed the content of publicly available data and the resulting disciplinary actions, paying particular attention to gender differences regarding the types of misconduct and the RNs found to have engaged in them. In addition to our research findings, we discuss the status of social scientific knowledge on white collar crime in the medical profession and explore policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]