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Nebraska says western Iowa-licensed nurse is a ‘serious risk to public safety’

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April 30th, 2025 by Ric Hanson

(Iowa Capital Dispatch) – Six months after the State of Nebraska revoked a nurse’s ability to practice there for posing a “significant risk to public safety,” Iowa’s Board of Nursing has agreed to let the woman continue practicing in this state. Iowa Board of Nursing records indicate Brandy Wicks, a registered nurse from Treynor, was working at an unspecified acute care hospital in 2023 when she admitted to pulling controlled and non-controlled medications from the electronic medication dispensing machine and placing the drugs in drawers in patient rooms for administration at a later time. The board also alleged Wicks pulled a dose of oxycodone out of the medication dispensing machine and documented administering the drug to a patient who later said they never received it. The board charged Wicks with misappropriating or attempting to misappropriate medications, failing to properly document or perform the disposal of medications, and failing to properly safeguard or secure medications.
To resolve the case, Wicks recently agreed to a settlement with the board that will allow her to keep her Iowa license, although it we be placed on probationary status for two years. Records from Nebraska’s Division of Public Health show that Wicks’ ability to practice nursing in that state was revoked in October 2024. The division alleged Wicks was working for a Council Bluffs hospice agency, St. Croix Hospice, when a patient’s spouse noticed the patient’s morphine pills were missing after Wicks had visited. After the spouse inquired about the missing drugs, Wicks allegedly went back to the patient’s home and returned the drugs, saying they must have fallen off a table unnoticed into her bag. Eight pills were missing from the patient’s supply after Wicks returned them, according to the division.

In 2023, the division alleges, Wicks was working with patients at Nebraska Medicine’s trauma center when she charted that she had given a patient Oxycodone, which the patient later denied receiving. A subsequent audit allegedly revealed that over 15 days, there were 52 discrepancies in medication records involving 17 patients cared for by Wicks. According to division records, Wicks was fired from Nebraska Medicine and later failed to appear for a hearing on licensing charges. A hearing officer, Robert E. Harkins, revoked Wicks’ ability to practice in Nebraska, stating that her actions were “serious and constitute a significant risk to public safety.” The decision was affirmed by the chief medical officer of Nebraska’s Division of Public Health.

Wicks told the Iowa Capital Dispatch she didn’t feel the Nebraska division fairly characterized her actions at the trauma center. “They made it out to sound, like, almost like I was taking the medications — which I was not,” she said. “That was not the case.” As for the home-hospice client’s missing morphine, Wicks said, “I believe that was a set-up. I think the family took the medication and blamed it on me. I have never taken medications from a patient, ever.” Wicks said she’s currently dealing with some personal issues, but plans to resume working as a nurse soon, possibly at a nursing home in the western Iowa town of Oakland.

Court records indicate Wicks is currently facing a charge of child endangerment, which, after nine continuances, is scheduled for trial on May 27. A related charge of domestic abuse assault was dismissed and a related charge of violating a no-contact order is currently “on hold,” according to court records, pending the resolution of the child endangerment case.