(Iowa Capital Dispatch) An Iowa nurse accused of drug use and patient abandonment worked his first shift at a Fremont County nursing home last fall, nine days after the Iowa Board of Nursing found probable cause to file disciplinary charges against him.
State records indicate that while the board found probable cause to file the first of two sets of charges against the nurse in September 2025, the charges were made public only this week.
The disciplinary charges against Raymond DeLeon, a 66-year-old licensed practical nurse from Glenwood, stem partly from events at the Douglas County Health Center, a 254-bed nursing home in Omaha. In February 2024, the care 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 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.
State records show that on Sept. 8, 2025, the Iowa Board of Nursing found probable cause to charge DeLeon with the single offense of having a license to practice nursing revoked or suspended by another licensing authority. On that same day, according to state records, DeLeon interviewed for a job at Shenandoah’s Garden View Care Center, a state-licensed nursing home in Fremont County.
On Sept. 17, 2025, with the board’s probable-cause decision still not made public, DeLeon worked his first shift at Garden View.
According to state inspectors, a registered nurse at Garden View would later allege 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.
Court 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 arresting DeLeon after finding a glass methamphetamine pipe, with residue, in the vehicle’s glove compartment. DeLeon was charged with possession of methamphetamine.
On Dec. 7, 2025, the board found probable cause to charge DeLeon with the additional offenses of being involved in the unauthorized possession or use of a controlled substance; excessive use of drugs and/or alcohol; engaging in behavior that is contradictory to professional decorum; and leaving a nursing assignment without first ensuring the safety and welfare of the patients.
In January, with both sets of disciplinary charges still publicly undisclosed by the Iowa board, DeLeon agreed to refrain from practicing in Iowa in return for the board’s promise that it would “not pursue formal disciplinary charges” against him until an investigation by the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing was completed.
Earlier this month, DeLeon pleaded guilty to the criminal charge of possession of methamphetamine, resulting in a $430 fine and a deferred judgment that will wipe the conviction from court records after the successful completion of a year’s probation.
On March 24, the two sets of Iowa Board of Nursing charges against DeLeon were publicly announced by DIAL.
When previously asked about lengthy delays in providing public notice of licensing board sanctions and charges, DIAL has said those questions are best answered by the Iowa Attorney General’s Office, which has in turn said the questions are best addressed by DIAL.
