STORM LAKE, IA (Iowa Capital Dispatch) – A Clay County nurse convicted of stealing more than $115,000 worth of property from a home-health patient has agreed to surrender her license.
Earlier this year, the Iowa Board of Nursing charged Shari Lee Bents of Royal 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 without lawful authority; soliciting, borrowing, or misappropriating money or property from a patient, and being convicted of an offense that directly relates to the duties and responsibilities of the profession.
According to the board, from April 2024 to October 2024, Bents was employed by Stay In Home Care & Medical Staffing in the Storm Lake area. On Oct. 24, 2024, she was charged with first-degree theft and ongoing criminal conduct. Prosecutors alleged Bents took more than $115,000 worth of coins and jewelry from a Stay In Home Care patient and then pawned the items.
On Feb. 15, 2025, Bents agreed to plead guilty to a charge of felony dependent adult abuse and the charges of theft and ongoing criminal conduct were dismissed.
The board alleges Bents admitted to an Iowa Department of Health and Human Services worker that she stole items from her patient on three separate occasions and that she administered morphine to the patient outside of her scope of practice as a caregiver.
Bents’ recent agreement to surrender her license has little practical effect, as she already is incarcerated at the Iowa Correctional Institute for Women where she is serving a five-year sentence on the dependent adult abuse charge.
Iowa Board of Nursing records indicate the board granted Bents a practical nurse’s license in September 2024, months after she first began working at Stay In Home Care. Bents — whose full name is listed in some board records as “Shari-Bents” — faced charges of theft twice in 2016 and twice in 2017. In each of the four cases, the charges were later dismissed.
Other Iowa-licensed nurses recently sanctioned by the board
Ragan Victor of Marshalltown, who has surrendered her license on two previous occasions, has again surrendered her license, according to the board. It’s not clear what led to the most recent surrender of the license as board records related to that action have yet to be made public.
According to federal court records, in August 2016, Victor was sentenced to 43 months of imprisonment after pleading guilty to a charge of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Prosecutors alleged Victor counted money for a drug-trafficking organization and also distributed significant quantities — specifically, four kilograms — of meth to customers of the organization.
In 2017, while serving her prison sentence, Victor surrendered her nursing license. Court records show that in November 2018, she was transferred from prison to supervised release and, that same year, the Board of Nursing reinstated Victor’s license subject to compliance with several restrictions.
State and federal records show that in 2019, after testing positive for alcohol while on supervised release, and then being arrested on a charge of drunken driving, Victor again surrendered her nursing license and was later convicted of the criminal charge.
In June 2024, the board agreed to reinstate Victor’s license.
Melinda Myers of Palo, who was charged by the board in February with committing an act that might adversely affect a patient’s welfare. According to the board, Myers recently agreed to surrender her license, although board documents related to that decision have yet to be made public. The board has yet to disclose the allegations that gave rise to the disciplinary charge.
Linda Jay of Clarinda, a licensed practical nurse who in 2024 was charged by the board with committing an act that might adversely affect a patient’s welfare and with failing to properly assess or report a patient’s change in condition. The board alleged that in 2023, while working at a long-term care facility, Jay failed to notify a physician of a patient’s change in condition, and that in February 2024, Jay failed to document a patient’s condition and improperly administered blood pressure medication.
The case was resolved with a $300 civil penalty and Jay agreeing to complete 30 hours of educational training. The board now says Jay recently agreed to surrender her license as part of this same disciplinary case, although the board has yet to make public any records related to that decision.
Avis Pruismann of Williams, who was charged in January 2025 with engaging in behavior which constitutes unethical conduct, or practices that are harmful or detrimental to the public, by being involved in the unauthorized possession of a controlled substance, and with being unable to practice nursing with reasonable skill and safety.
The board alleges that two and a half years ago, in February 2023, Pruismann — board records also spell her last name as “Pruisman” — was criminally charged with possession of a controlled substance, marijuana, in Hamilton County. According to the board, she later entered a guilty plea to the charge and was awarded a deferred judgment.
The board alleges that a recent board hearing on her licensing status, Pruismann “displayed flight of ideas and paranoia while testifying.” In revoking her license, the board found she is “unable to practice nursing with reasonable skill and safety by reason of a mental condition” that includes PTSD, paranoia and auditory hallucinations. She can apply for reinstatement of her license in one year.
Jennifer Beltran of West Branch, a registered nurse who has worked in Iowa City, has been issued a warning and had her license placed on probation. Court records show that in May 2025, she entered a guilty plea to the charge of obtaining a prescription drug by deceit, an aggravated misdemeanor, and was sentenced to one year of probation with a deferred judgment that will result in the conviction being expunged from court records after the successful completion of probation.
The criminal charge was based on an allegation that Beltran took six alprazolam tablets, a Schedule IV controlled substance, from University of Iowa Health Care and then took steps to conceal her unauthorized removal of the drug. The Board of Nursing issued Beltran a warning and placed her license on probation for two years.
Troyetta Tralitha Barron of New Hampton, a licensed practical nurse who was working at an unspecified facility in Tripoli, Iowa, on Oct. 20, 2024, when she was scheduled to work from 6 a.m. to 6:45 p.m. According to the Board of Nursing, she was seen on surveillance footage leaving the building at 7:18 a.m. and did not return to the building until 8:40 a.m., leaving the facility without a nurse and delaying the morning medication pass. Barron later told investigators when she was out of the building, she was sleeping in her car. After charging Barron with leaving a nursing assignment without ensuring the safety and welfare of the patients, the board agreed to issue Barron a warning and require her to complete 30 hours of educational training on ethics.
Jennifer Kochanowski of Marion, a registered nurse who was employed as a charge nurse at an unspecified Cedar Rapids medical facility on Sept. 19, 2025, when her co-workers noted she appeared to be very drowsy, with an unsteady gait, after working her 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. shift. According to the Board of Nursing, Kochanowski’s co-workers helped her to a conference room and placed her in a chair where she slept for the next six hours. At that point, Kochanowski’s colleagues allegedly helped her to her car, where she fell back asleep, then refused offers to drive her home.
According to the board, a subsequent review of surveillance-camera footage showed Kochanowski pouring what appeared to be medication from a controlled-substance bottle into her water bottle outside the medication room. The board alleges the video also shows that Kochanowski removed medications from the medication room and then took the drugs. The board charged Kochanowski with misappropriating medications, practicing nursing while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and failing to properly document or perform medication wastage. As a part of a settlement agreement with the board, Kochanowski accepted a warning and agreed to enroll in the Iowa Practitioner Health Program.
LeAnn McVay of Fontanelle, a licensed practical nurse who was working at an unspecified long-term care facility in Avoca between 2022 and 2024 when her employer allegedly received complaints she was dismissing residents’ requests for pain-control medications as drug-seeking behavior. The board alleges an investigation also revealed McVay “communicated unprofessionally with a resident’s family member and with colleagues,” including one incident in which she “threw a bag of feed connectors” at a colleague. The board charged McVay with engaging in behavior that is contradictory to professional decorum. As part of a settlement agreement on the disciplinary charge, McVay agreed to accept a warning from the board.
Lori Maschoff-Long of Morning Sun, a licensed practical nurse who was working at an unspecified long-term care facility in Donnellson on Jan. 29, 2024, when a nursing assistant summoned her to the room of a resident who was unresponsive but had “active, full-code cardiopulmonary resuscitation status,” meaning that life-saving measures were to be taken in such situations.
The board alleged that after finding the resident had no signs of respiration, pulse or blood pressure, Maschoff-Long left the resident’s room and contacted the funeral home and resident’s family to notify them the resident was dead. She later acknowledged she did not know the resident’s CPR status and did not attempt CPR, the board alleged. The board charged Maschoff-Long with committing an act that might have adversely affected the welfare of a patient, then agreed to settle the case with a warning. As part of the settlement, Maschoff-Long agreed to complete 30 hours of educational training in skilled nursing.
Stephanie R. Allen of Burlington, a licensed practical nurse who was working at an unspecified long-term care facility in Shenandoah on May 21, 2024, when she was scheduled to work from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. Within 90 minutes of beginning her shift, she sent a “facilitator,” a text message stating, “I’m done,” and left the building without notifying the other nurses on duty. The board charged Allen with leaving a nursing assignment without ensuring the safety and welfare of patients, and with committing an act that might adversely affect the welfare of patients. The board then agreed to settle the case with a warning. As part of that settlement, Allen agreed to complete 30 hours of educational training on ethics.
Chelsea Rea Crocker of Pleasantville, a registered nurse who was working at the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women in November 2024 when she was assigned to administer medication to an inmate who was in isolation. Crocker charted the medications as given on Nov. 9, however the drugs were not administered, the board alleged. On Nov. 10 and Nov. 11, she charted the medications as “refused” by the inmate, but it was “never documented that she offered the patient the medications,” the board alleged. As a result, the board charged Crocker with failing to accurately assess or report the status of a patient, and with committing an act that might adversely affect a patient’s welfare. As part of a settlement agreement, the board issued Crocker a warning and ordered her to complete 30 hours of educational training in ethics.
Antoinette Thompson of Pleasant Hill, an advanced registered nurse practitioner who recently agreed not to practice nursing until further order by the board. Earlier this year, the board charged Thompson with eight separate regulatory violations: failing to evaluate, document or report the status of a patient; committing an act that might adversely affect a patient’s welfare; misappropriating medications or supplies of a patient; being involved in the unauthorized manufacture or distribution of a controlled substance; prescribing, dispensing or distributing drugs in an unsafe manner; prescribing, dispensing or distributing drugs without accurately documenting the act or without evaluating the patient; willful or repeated failure to practice nursing with reasonable skill and safety, and failure to query and review the Prescription Monitoring Program database prior to prescribing or dispensing of an opioid.
Court records indicate Thompson served as the medical director and nurse for the Live Hydration Spa in Ames until she was terminated when the store closed in September 2024. According to a court petition filed by Live Hydration, Thompson’s termination was based on her “actions resulting in imminent danger to patient health and safety.”
Thompson is currently facing additional charges from the Iowa Board of Pharmacy.
Amy Jo Schmidt of Burlington, who is scheduled to participate in a Dec. 12, 2025, hearing on the board’s recent declaration that it intends to deny her application for a nursing license. The denial is based on what the board describes as Schmidt’s history of criminal convictions, which allegedly includes a felony theft conviction, convictions for possession of illegal substances, and two convictions for operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
Laurie Brockman-Jones of Tiffin, who in December 2024 was charged by the board with unethical conduct for practicing nursing while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. According to the board, Brockman-Jones was employed as a nurse at a ketamine clinic from Feb. 12, 2024, through March 11, 2024. The board alleges that when she arrived for work on March 7, 2024, her coworkers believed she was impaired as she was slurring her words, repeating herself, her eyes were red and glazed, her gait was unsteady, and she appeared disheveled. Brockman-Jones’ supervisor allegedly sent her home and she was fired days later.
A board investigator later concluded Brockman-Jones had prescriptions for duloxetine, busbar, trazadone, and hydroxyzine, and had taken two doses of trazadone the night before the incident at work. According to the board, she admitted she may have been impaired when she arrived for work but did not realize it, and later developed an alcohol problem.
After a hearing on the matter at which Brockman-Jones didn’t appear, the board voted to suspend her license with the understanding it cannot be reinstated until she completes a comprehensive substance abuse and mental health evaluation and establishes it is in the public interest for her license to be reinstated. If her license is reinstated, it will be subject to three years of probationary status.
