(Iowa Capital Dispatch) An Iowa-licensed nurse has been charged with stealing medications or supplies and being under the influence of drugs or alcohol while at work.
The Iowa Board of Nursing has charged Kenneth Junior Stevenson of Moline, Ill., with misappropriating or attempting to misappropriate medications or property of a patient or a agency; practicing nursing while under the influence of alcohol or drugs; and obtaining or attempting to obtain controlled substances without lawful authority.
The board has not disclosed any information as to the alleged conduct that gave rise to charges or indicated when or where they’re alleged to have taken place.
A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Oct. 14, 2026. Board records indicate Stevenson has been an Iowa-licensed registered nurse since March 2009.
The Iowa Capital Dispatch was not able to reach Stevenson for comment.
Other Iowa-licensed nurses recently sanctioned by the board include:
— Lynette Tokach of Cedar Rapids, who is charged by the board with engaging in unethical conduct or practices that are harmful to the public; failing to notify the board of a criminal conviction within 30 days; and failing to comply with an order of the board. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for July 31, 2026. The Iowa Capital Dispatch was not able to reach Tokach for comment.
— Haley Dugdale of Sioux City, who is charged with violating an initial agreement or contract with the Iowa Professional Health Program, which assists healthcare professionals with alcohol or drug issues. The board approved the charges in April 2026, but did not make them public until June 17, 2026, which was two days after the scheduled hearing date in the case.
Dugdale said Wednesday the hearing is now scheduled for July 30, 2026. She said her agreement to participate in the Iowa Professional Health Program stems from a December 2024 incident in which her “former employer decided to turn me in for taking medications when I was off the job.”
In 2019, the board charged Dugdale with fraudulently using blank prescription forms “on more than one occasion” to obtain medications under false pretenses. According to court records, she later pleaded guilty to a felony criminal charge of obtaining a prescription drug by fraud, and received a deferred judgment which has resulted in most of the case file being expunged from Iowa court records.
As part of that case, a related misdemeanor charge of theft was dismissed by the court. In that case, police had alleged that on Sept. 7, 2018, while working as a registered nurse at Sioux City’s Wagner Ear, Nose & Throat clinic, Dugdale forged a prescription for hydrocodone, then left the doctor’s office and went to a Hy-Vee Pharmacy to obtain the narcotics.
Dugdale’s license was indefinitely suspended in 2019, and reinstated two years later.
In 2025, she was charged by the board with being involved in the unauthorized possession or use of a controlled substance, excessive use of drugs and/or alcohol which might impair her ability to practice, and engaging in behavior that is contradictory to professional. The board scheduled a hearing in that matter for June 15, 2026 – the same day as the canceled hearing on the more recent charge of violating an initial agreement or contract with the Iowa Professional Health Program.
Dugdale said Wednesday she is “devastated by the charges and I would never, ever put the public in any danger. I love my job.”
— Wendell Dishman of Council Bluffs, who was denied the reinstatement of his nursing license. According to the board, Dishman was issued an Iowa registered nurse license in September 1986. In 2016, while working in Nebraska, he “administered an excess dosage of morphine” to a nursing home patient, the board alleges.
State records show that in 2018, Dishman surrendered his license, and in February 2026, he applied for reinstatement of his license. The board recently denied that application, stating Dishman had not demonstrated that the reasons for his license surrender no longer exist. The Iowa Capital Dispatch was not able to reach Dishman for comment.
