STORM LAKE, IA (Iowa Capital Dispatch) — A Clay County nurse is no longer licensed to practice after admitting to financial misconduct involving a home-health patient.

Shari Lee Bents of Royal worked for a private medical staffing agency serving the Storm Lake area. Investigators say she took valuables from a patient and later pawned them.

The Iowa Board of Nursing filed disciplinary charges, citing conduct that endangered patient welfare, involved unauthorized possession of medication, and resulted in financial harm.

Criminal charges were filed in the fall. Bents was accused of theft and ongoing misconduct tied to her work in home health care.

She later entered a plea to dependent adult abuse. The remaining charges were dropped through a negotiated agreement.

Her nursing license has since been surrendered, ending her eligibility to work in the field.