Incident 33750

Federal authorities have accused a northern Iowa nurse of stealing prescription drugs and violating federal patient confidentiality laws.

U.S. District Court records says the 32-year-old is charged with obtaining and attempting to obtain controlled substances by fraud, deception and subterfuge; criminal violations of privacy law; and aiding and abetting.

A criminal complaint says the accused is a registered nurse and occupational therapist and that the incidents occurred in Cerro Gordo County.

Authorities say she stole medications from co-workers. Authorities also say she accessed medical records to find patient addresses and then would show up at their homes, posing as a public health worker who was recovering unused medications.

On Oct. 7, 2013, Mercy Medical Center–North Iowa hired her for its Acute Rehab/Skilled Nursing Unit.

A nursing aide reported she was missing five pain pills from her purse in the Skilled Nursing Unit break room on May 15, 2017. The accused was working with a patient that day in the room next to the break room.

Connie Morrison, a HR employee, interviewed the accused and she became “visibly upset.”

“Morrison had been told that weeks earlier the nurse was fired from IOOF for missing pain medication,” court documents said. “Two staff members shared with Morrison that she has asked them for pain medication several months earlier.”

Morrison found another nursing aide reported she was missing pain medication after her shift on March 7, 2017.

She left Mercy July 31, 2018.