TORONTO -- An Ontario nurse who killed eight seniors in her care has been found guilty of professional misconduct by the province's nursing regulator.

A five-person disciplinary panel at the College of Nurses of Ontario says the case of Elizabeth Wettlaufer involves the most egregious and disgraceful conduct it has ever seen.

In June, Wettlaufer pleaded guilty to the first-degree murder of eight seniors, attempted murder of four others and aggravated assault of two more people, all by way of insulin overdoses.

She confessed to the murders while at a psychiatric hospital in Toronto in the fall before detailing the crimes to police in Woodstock, Ont.

The college of nurses knew Wettlaufer was fired from the Caressant Care nursing home in Woodstock for a medication error in 2014, but she continued to work -- and harmed patients -- until she resigned as a nurse in September 2016.

The disciplinary panel has deemed Wettlaufer's conduct unprofessional, dishonourable and disgraceful and is considering revoking her certification as part of a sentence that it will deliver on Tuesday afternoon.

"The conduct was heinous and criminal and brings shame on the profession," said Megan Shortreed, the college's counsel who presented the case.

Wettlaufer was not present at the hearing taking place in Toronto. She is currently serving a sentence of life in prison with no chance for parole for 25 years.

Shortreed went through an agreed statement of facts from Wettlaufer's guilty plea and her confession to police in the criminal case as the basis for the college's findings.

After Wettlaufer confessed the killings at the Toronto psychiatric hospital, Shortreed noted that her psychiatrist informed the college on Sept. 29, 2016.

"That was the first notice the college had of her criminal activity," Shortreed said.

The college started an investigation immediately, Shortreed said, but was told to back off by the Crown attorney to allow police to proceed with their own investigation.

The disciplinary panel heard Tuesday that Wettlaufer emailed and called the college on Sept. 30, saying she was no longer fit to practice as a nurse and wished to resign.

She then told the college's intake investigator that she had given 14 patients insulin overdoses on purpose, although she wasn't sure if the eight deaths were directly or indirectly related to her actions, the panel heard.

"She said she would never again practice nursing," Shortreed said of the nurse's phone call. "Wettlaufer had no explanation as to why she had done these things."