(Iowa Capital Dispatch) An Iowa nurse landed a job in a Fremont County nursing home last fall, six weeks after Nebraska officials revoked his nursing privileges for incompetence, using drugs while on duty, and posing a significant risk to public safety.
The nurse, Raymond DeLeon of Glenwood, who has since been arrested and charged with possession of methamphetamine, recently agreed to refrain from practicing in Iowa while state licensing officials continue their investigation of the matter.
Nebraska state records indicate DeLeon, a 66-year-old licensed practical nurse, was working at Douglas County Health Center, a 254-bed nursing home in Omaha, in February 2024 when the facility received what the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services calls “photographic evidence of DeLeon using illicit controlled substances.”
After DeLeon refused the facility’s request that he submit to drug testing, he was fired for unlawful use of a controlled substance in the workplace or reporting for work while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, incompetence in performing his assigned nursing duties, and engaging in activities prejudicial to his employer’s reputation.
Declaring that DeLeon to posed a “significant risk to public safety,” the department revoked his privileges to work as a nurse in Nebraska.
With his Iowa license unaffected by that decision, DeLeon continued to work as a nurse in Iowa and in September 2025 was hired at Shenandoah’s Garden View Care Center, a state-licensed nursing home in Fremont County.
According to state inspectors, the administrator at Garden View later explained that when she hired DeLeon last year, she was aware of some sort of adverse action against his license in Nebraska and had asked DeLeon about that. Inspectors allege the administrator told them DeLeon informed her that his girlfriend had taken a photo of him smoking marijuana and sent it to his employer.
The administrator allegedly told the inspectors that since she had started work at the home in July 2025, the facility had not been checking the references of job applicants and new hires.
A registered nurse at Garden View allegedly told the inspectors DeLeon would routinely leave the building during his overnight shift, would go out to his car, and would then return “hyped up” to complete his shift. The registered nurse allegedly added that she wouldn’t give DeLeon the keys to the home’s narcotics cabinet because she didn’t trust him — a concern she said she had relayed to the home’s management.
State records indicate that around 1 a.m. on Nov. 12, 2025, while working the overnight shift at Garden View, DeLeon went out to his vehicle to smoke and then drove away, before his shift had ended, to purchase gasoline for his vehicle.
According to police records, DeLeon was pulled over about 1:15 a.m. by a Fremont County deputy, allegedly after driving on Highway 59 with no lights on. The deputy reported following DeLeon into the parking lot at Garden View, and then arresting DeLeon after finding a glass methamphetamine pipe, with residue, in the vehicle’s glove compartment.
DeLeon has pleaded not guilty to the charges of possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. A trial is scheduled for March 10, 2026.
The Iowa Board of Nursing recently agreed to refrain from pursuing any formal disciplinary charges against DeLeon until its investigation of the matter is complete in return for DeLeon’s agreement that he refrain from practicing as a nurse in Iowa until further order of the board.
As a result of the agreement, the status of DeLeon’s Iowa license has been changed to suspended. The Iowa Capital Dispatch was not able to reach DeLeon for comment.
Garden View is currently one of two Iowa nursing homes designated a “special focus facility” by the federal government. Such facilities are considered to be among the worst nursing homes in the nation due to serious and recurring deficiencies in resident care.
