After a series of drug thefts in four states, nurse from Omaha wins back Iowa license

Iowa regulators have reinstated the license of a nurse previously sanctioned for alleged drug thefts in four different states.

State records indicate the Iowa Board of Nursing first licensed Krystal Bauer of Omaha as a registered nurse in 1993.

Board records indicate that in 2003, Bauer was working at an unspecified hospital when it was reported that she was disposing of a high volume of Nubain, an opioid painkiller, and was also seeking prescriptions for Stadol NS, another opioid painkiller, from a resident physician.

Bauer later admitted that in 2003 she had been using numerous physicians to obtain prescriptions for the two drugs, according to board records. The board charged her with unethical conduct for obtaining prescription medications under false pretenses, and suspended her license indefinitely pending the completion of a chemical dependency evaluation. Her license was later reinstated subject to probation.

In 2008, Bauer was charged by the board with failing to report action taken against her license in another state. The board alleged Bauer had been working as a travel nurse in Wisconsin when she allegedly stole morphine from a dispensing device while on duty at a hospital, and later that same day tested positive for morphine.

According to the board, Bauer admitted to a medical review officer that she had given herself an injection of morphine that had been intended for a patient. Wisconsin regulators then revoked Bauer’s nursing privileges in that state, which Bauer allegedly failed to report to the Iowa Board of Nursing.

Bauer subsequently agreed to surrender her Iowa license.

Also in 2008, the North Carolina Board of Nursing revoked Bauer’s practice privileges in that state after alleging there were discrepancies in the documentation of her handling of controlled substances while working in North Carolina. Bauser was accused of stealing drugs from Greenville, N.C., hospital.

A few weeks later, the Arizona State Board of Nursing issued an order revoking Bauer’s privileges to practice there, citing narcotics discrepancies in audited charts while Bauer was working in that state. Bauer had been accused of stealing drugs while working at a Glendale, Ariz., hospital.

In 2009, Bauer was criminally charged in the state of Wisconsin for the theft of drugs in that state and, according to the Iowa Board of Nursing, she pleaded no contest to one felony charge of possession of narcotics.

In 2014, Bauer sought reinstatement of her Iowa nursing license, expressing what the board called “deep remorse for the actions that led to the surrender of her nursing licenses.”  The board agreed to reinstate her license subject to one year of probation.

In 2017, Bauer entered into a chemical dependency agreement with the Iowa Nurse Assistance Program. The same year, the board alleges, she “relapsed from sobriety” and in October 2017 stole hydromorphone, an opioid painkiller, from the hospital where she was working.

According to the board, Bauer failed to notify the Iowa Nurse Assistance Program of her employment at the hospital, the drug theft, and her relapse. After the board charged Bauer with failing to comply with the terms of her agreement with the program, Bauer surrendered her Iowa nursing license a second time.

In 2019, the board charged Bauer with continuing to practice nursing through December 2018 despite having surrendered her license. That case was resolved when Bauer agreed to pay a civil penalty $600.

In April 2026, Bauer submitted a letter to the Board of Nursing requesting reinstatement of her Iowa license.

Earlier this month, the board agreed to reinstate the license pending Bauer’s completion of a nurse refresher course and satisfaction of the still-unpaid $600 fine that was imposed in 2019.

Bauer’s license will be on probationary status for two years, during which she will be required to submit to chemical screening and monitoring, according to board records.

The Iowa Capital Dispatch was not able to reach Bauer for comment on her case.

In 2010, Bauer told ProPublica that the time-consuming process surrounding the various state licensing boards’ disciplinary proceedings and their need to give licensees due process was what allowed her to keep moving and landing nursing jobs even while investigations in other states were pending.

“Until an investigation is closed,” Bauer reportedly told ProPublica, “it’s not going to look like there’s anything going on.”