Nurse Suspended After Painkillers Disappear: West Des Moines Police Blotter

A 54-year-old nurse at a long-term care facility in West Des Moines was suspended for allegedly stealing half of an 80-year-old patient’s daily dose of the prescription painkiller Vicodin, according to a report on file at the .

The patient moved into Edgewater Wesley Retirement Community on Aug. 18 and was to have received two painkillers a day, according to a report filed Aug. 24. Edgewater’s director of nursing, Karie Lynn Kesterson, told police that the pharmacy drug sign-out sheet, signed by the suspect, appeared to be in order, but the patient’s wife noticed her husband was only getting one pill a day since he was moved to Edgewater.

Kesterson reportedly confronted the nurse, who denied any involvement in the drug theft, but then asked, “What happens now?” according to the police report.

The nurse was suspended and police were called.