State regulators have issued warnings to four Iowa nurses for allegedly using drugs or being impaired while working in hospitals and other care settings.
The Iowa Board of Nursing recently charged Wendy Jones, also known as Wendy Hackett and Wendy Hockett — board records give both spellings — with practicing nursing while under the influence or while impaired, and with failing to properly document or perform the disposal of medications.
The board alleges that on Jan. 30, 2026, while working as a registered nurse for the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, Jones was found by a coworker on a bathroom floor, semi-conscious and slurring her speech. The board alleges Jones had just worked a case in which she pulled fentanyl, a powerful opioid painkiller, and Versed, a prescription sedative, for a patient. Two opened syringes were found Jones’ purse and the caps to both were located in the bathroom sink…