(Photo courtesy of the Iowa Board of Nursing)
The Iowa Board of Nursing has charged a central Iowa psychiatric nurse with incompetence and unethical conduct in the practice of nursing.
Advanced registered nurse practitioner Judith A. Gonzales, 68, of West Des Moines is charged with professional incompetency and engaging in a form of unethical behavior specifically related to an act that causes physical, emotional or financial injury to a patient or client.
The board has also charged Gonzales with engaging in a separate form of unethical conduct specifically related to prescribing, dispensing, administering, or distributing drugs in a manner that is harmful or detrimental to the public.
A fourth charge alleges Gonzales committed a form of unethical conduct that is tied to a wide range of alleged offenses that can include sexual contact with, or sexual comments to, a patient; participating in a sexual, emotional, social or business relationship with a patient; or repeatedly divulging personal information to a patient for nontherapeutic purposes.
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The board has not disclosed any of the underlying allegations that gave rise to the charges or indicated when or where the alleged offenses took place. The charges were imposed in January but were made public only this week. Board records indicate the investigation into Gonzales’ conduct was initiated in 2023.
Gonzales was first issued an Iowa licensed practical nurses’ license in 1976, and she is currently certified as a psychiatric/mental health advanced registered nurse practitioner, according to board records.
A hearing on the charges is scheduled for April 11, 2025.
Gonzales could not be reached for comment.
She has been affiliated with Heartland Christian Counseling of central Iowa, although, since March 1, some of that organization’s medical providers, including Gonzales, have begun working for a new entity called Precision Psychiatry. Company officials said Gonzales is currently on a sabbatical of undetermined length.
Other nursing board actions:
Other Iowa-licensed nurses subject to recent action by the Board of Nursing include:
— Nancy Buttry, 53, who was charged in April 2024 with excessive use of drugs in a manner that might impair a licensee’s ability to practice nursing with reasonable skill and safety. In July 2024, the board dismissed the charges citing a lack of evidence. Also in 2024, the board initiated a separate investigation into Buttry and, five weeks ago, it charged Buttry with violating her contract with the Iowa Nurse Assistance Program, which helps nurses with substance abuse issues, while practicing nursing in Iowa. Court records indicate that in 2023, Buttry was living in Harlan and working for the Heritage House Senior Living facility in Atlantic.
— Kimberly Claeys, 56, of Delmar, a registered nurse who was charged by the board with committing an act that might adversely affect a patient and with engaging in conduct that was contradictory to professional decorum. The board alleged that Claeys, while working as a staff nurse in the medical surgical unit of a clinic or hospital in DeWitt, was fired for unprofessionalism and failing to meet nursing standards. The board alleged that while working at the DeWitt location, Claeys demonstrated a lack of skill in basic nursing, medication administration and intravenous lines. She was also accused of failing to follow safety protocols and with using rude or offensive language in speaking to patients. The board recently suspended Claeys’ license pending completion of a fitness-for-duty evaluation and additional educational training. Following the reinstatement of her license, it will be placed on probationary status for two years.
— Katia Petlitchka Shallcross, 38, who surrendered her Iowa nursing license in 2017 after being convicted of keeping a drug house, an offense tied to the alleged sale of a small amount of marijuana to an undercover officer while Shallcross was living in Fort Madison. The board recently agreed to reinstate Shallcross’ license subject to 12 months of probation, during which time she must submit to chemical screening.
— Melissa Bronemann, 37, of Monticello, who in October 2024 was charged with failing to assess, accurately document, evaluate, or report the status of a patient, and with falsifying records or knowingly permitting the use of falsified information in those records. The board alleged that Bronemann, while working at an unspecified assisted living facility from September 2022 to March 2023, failed to properly assess patients, failed to administer medications, failed to report the status of patients, and made documentation errors that affected her patients’ welfare. To settle the matter, the board recently agreed to drop the charge related to falsified records and Bronemann agreed to complete a fitness-for-duty evaluation and a nursing refresher course. Her license will be placed on probation for two years.
— Avis Pruismann, 39, of Williams, who is currently charged by the board with engaging in behavior that constitutes unethical conduct or a practice harmful to the public by being involved in the unauthorized possession or use of a controlled substance. She is also charged with being unable to practice nursing with reasonable skill and safety by reason of mental or physical condition. A hearing on the charges is scheduled for April 11, 2025.
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