Nursing home worker faces drug charges, claims of sexual exploitation

A state-licensed nurse who has been criminally charged with sexually exploiting and stealing from a nursing home resident has voluntarily agreed to refrain from practicing while regulators investigate the matter.

In April 2025, Rachel Ann Flowers, 43, a registered nurse from North Liberty, was criminally charged with theft in connection with an incident at the Parkview Manor nursing home in Wellman where she worked.

According to police, the administrator of the home, Kaylee Martin, reported that Flowers, who was employed as the assistant director of nursing for the facility, owned a backpack that contained multiple items belonging to Parkview Manor. When Flowers was confronted, she allegedly explained to the home’s administrator that because the items were “expired,” she was taking them from the facility for her own use.

Martin allegedly showed officers Flowers’ backpack, which contained a Lidocaine patch, suture kits, a syringe and various medications worth a total of $654. According to police, the items were not expired.

Flowers later pleaded guilty to a charge of theft and in September 2025 was granted a deferred judgment and placed on unsupervised probation for one year.

Four weeks after her sentencing, Flowers was arrested again and charged with dependent adult abuse by sexual exploitation, unlawful possession of a prescription drug and prohibited acts involving prescription drugs.

In that case, police allege that Flowers, while working for Silver Oak Nursing and Rehabilitation in Marion in 2024, was serving as a caretaker for a dependent, 52-year-old man who alleged he and Flowers had kissed multiple times and that she allowed him to touch her breasts.

Other staff at the facility reported that it appeared the man was in love with Flowers and that he believed he was in a relationship with her. According to police, Flowers reportedly signed out 12 Viagra pills for the man, although he reported receiving only three of the pills.

Police allege Flowers ultimately left Silver Oak and, in March 2025, subsequently came under investigation at a different, unspecified care facility for missing narcotics. According to the police, it was later determined that Flowers had in her possession medications and other supplies she took from a care facility, as well as Viagra pills belonging to the man at Silver Oak. The police reports indicate Silver Oak performed a drug audit that indicated 33 of the man’s Viagra pills were missing.

Flowers has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges in the case. A trial is scheduled for March 20. Flowers’ attorney declined to comment on the matter.

The Iowa Board of Nursing is now investigating the two criminal cases. According to the board, the April 2025 case involved “the theft of a backpack that belonged to a patient” — as opposed to what police alleged, which was the theft of supplies from Parkview Manor that were stored in Flowers’ own backpack.

The board has agreed that it will not pursue any disciplinary charges against Flowers until the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing can complete its investigation of the two cases. In return, Flowers has agreed to refrain from practicing as a nurse until further order by the board.

Flower’s license status has now been changed to “suspended.”

The Silver Oak case is not the first time Flowers has been accused of an improper relationship with a nursing home resident. In 2022, the Board of Nursing alleged that Flowers, between August 2019 and August 2021, was working at an unspecified care facility where a resident said he had been involved in a “personal relationship” with Flowers. Flowers confessed to the relationship when the home’s management asked her about it, the board alleged.

The board charged Flowers with initiating a sexual, emotional, social or business relationship with a patient for personal gain. To settle the case, Flowers agreed to attend a three-day virtual class on maintaining professional boundaries with patients.

This article first appeared in the Iowa Capital Dispatch.