Royal, Iowa — A nurse from Royal convicted of stealing money from a home health patient has agreed to surrender her license. That’s according to a report by the Iowa Capital Dispatch.
Shari Lee Bents was charged by the Iowa Nursing Board earlier this year with committing an act that might adversely affect a patient’s welfare; committing an act that causes physical, emotional or financial injury to a patient; possessing or administering controlled substances with unlawful authority; soliciting, borrowing or misappropriating money or property from a patient, and being convicted of an offense directly relating to the duties and responsibilities of the profession.
The board says Bents was employed by a Storm Lake medical staffing firm from April 2024 until October 2024. She was charged on October 24th of last year with first-degree theft and ongoing criminal conduct after allegedly taking more than $115,000 worth of coins and jewelry from a patient.
As part of a plea deal, Bents pled guilty in February of this year to felony dependent adult abuse, in exchange for the theft and ongoing criminal conduct charges being dismissed. She is serving a five-year sentence at the Iowa Correctional Institute for Women.
In addition to the thefts, Bents was also accused of administering morphine to a patient outside of her scope as a caregiver.
(Courtesy fellow Community First Broadcasting station KUOO in Spirit Lake)
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