NICEVILLE – A nursing home nurse is accused of stealing patients’ medication, according to an arrest report.
On Feb. 24 an Okaloosa County Sheriff’s deputy was called to The Manor of Bluewater Bay to investigate a theft.
The director of nursing for The Manor told the deputy he had discovered a nurse, 32-year-old Renee Lorraine Stern of Crestview, was stealing patients’ prescriptions. He said he saw the thefts on surveillance video and confronted her. She admitted to the theft and had 126 pills in her possession that belonged to different patients.
Stern admitted to the deputy she took the drugs. She said she took them because of pain from a previous surgery.
The drugs were identified as loarazepam, acetaminophen and hydrocodone bitartrate, oxycodone hydrochloride, and alprazolam.
Stern was charged with larceny, possession of a controlled substance without a prescription (two counts), and opium or derivative 4 grams to under 30 kilograms.
Her court date is April 9.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Nurse accused of stealing patients' meds