Iowa Board of Nursing has suspended the license of a nurse accused of stealing patient medications. (Photo illustration by Iowa Capital Dispatch; background photo by JGI/Jamie Grill/Getty Images)
The state has temporarily suspended the license of a nurse facing criminal charges for allegedly stealing patient medications and being under the influence of drugs while on duty.
In April, the Iowa Board of Nursing charged Stephanie Beveridge, 43, of Des Moines with misappropriating patient medications, practicing nursing while impaired, failure to properly safeguard or secure medications, and unauthorized possession or use of a controlled substance.
The board alleged Beveridge was working the overnight shift at an unspecified care facility in December 2023 when emergency medical services were called to the facility to check on her. At the time, the board alleges, Beveridge was exhibiting signs of slurred speech, was unable to maintain her balance and was falling to the floor, and was “twitching” and falling asleep, all while on duty.
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Law enforcement officials who were summoned to the facility allegedly found a narcotic tablet inside one of Beveridge’s pockets and another narcotic tablet was found on the floor near a medication cart. In addition, the board alleged, four pills Beveridge had checked out could not be located or accounted for.
According to the board, Beveridge tested positive that night for opiates, oxycodone and cannabinoids – none of which had been prescribed to Beveridge.
To settle the allegations, Beveridge and the board agreed that her license will be suspended for 90 days and then placed on probation for 24 months. As part of probation, she will be required to undergo a substance abuse evaluation, submit to mental health counseling, and abstain from any use of alcohol or nontherapeutic drugs.
Court documents indicate Beveridge was working at the Altoona Nursing and Rehabilitation Center on the night in question and that she was criminally charged with dependent adult abuse and three counts of obtaining drugs by fraud or deceit. Police allege Beveridge stole four Ambien tablets from one resident, a supply of hydrocodone tablets from “multiple” other residents, and an oxycodone tablet from one resident.
Several weeks after she was arrested, and with the charges still pending, Beveridge informed the court she had just been hired to work at the Carlisle Care Center, a state-licensed care facility.
Beveridge has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges and a trial is now scheduled for Feb. 10, 2025.
According to police and court records, Beveridge was arrested in 2014 and charged with five counts of obtaining drugs by fraud or deceit while working at Deerfield Retirement Home in Urbandale. She was accused of stealing Percocet from a Deerfield resident on at least five occasions in April 2014.
All of the charges were later dismissed “in the interests of justice” at the request of the Polk County Attorney’s Office. Beveridge then sued Deerfield, alleging the facility’s complaints to police led to her unjustified arrest.
In her lawsuit, Beveridge also claimed Deerfield had filed complaints with the Iowa Board of Nursing and the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing, both of which concluded the 2014 allegations were unfounded. The lawsuit was later dismissed at Beveridge’s request.
In 2015, Beveridge was arrested at the Iowa State Fair after she allegedly threw a beer at another individual. She was later convicted of public intoxication.
Other Iowa nurses recently sanctioned by the Board of Nursing include:
— Ayla Simpkins of Mount Sterling, who was charged with misappropriating patients’ medications and failing to properly assess or evaluate a patient. The board alleged that while working at an unspecified health care facility in October 2022, Simpkins documented having given an injection and narcotics to patients who later denied receiving them. As part of a settlement, Simpkins agreed to an indefinite suspension of her license followed by a 12-month probationary period.
Court records indicate the alleged theft took place at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, where Simpkins was working in October 2022. Prosecutors allege that an investigation by the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing found that Simpkins had signed out oxycodone from the hospital’s supply and then falsely documented giving the narcotics to a patient.
According to prosecutors, a wider narcotics audit then revealed that Simpkins had signed out drugs for at least three other patients without actually providing the patients with their drugs. In September 2023, six weeks after she was arrested, Simpkins informed the court she was working full time for a health care staffing agency.
Simpkins has pleaded not guilty to criminal changes of obtaining drugs by fraud or deceit and tampering with records. A trial is now scheduled for February 2025.
— Jaime Gersema, no address given, who agreed to surrender her license after being accused of failing to provide evidence she had completed the continuing education required to maintain her license.
— Kali Stone of North Liberty, who was charged with practicing for 11 months while her license was in inactive status. She agreed to pay a civil penalty of $550.
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