(Storm Lake)– 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.
