Fairfield nurse has licensed suspended

FAIRFIELD — The Iowa Board of Nursing has suspended the license of a nurse accused of engaging in more than 25,000 phone calls or text messages with an underage patient.

The board alleges that Michael Schleicher of Fairfield was working as a nurse practitioner at an unspecified Iowa hospital from August 2014 to January 2020 when he treated a female minor identified in board records only as “Jane Doe.”

The board accused Schleicher of beginning to contact the girl by phone and text message in 2016, when the girl was still a minor. In 2017, while the girl was still a minor, he and the girl allegedly engaged in more than 17,000 contacts, including 3,000 phone calls that the board says took place after midnight.

In 2018, when the girl was 18, the two allegedly had 8,500 contacts, including 1,000 phone calls that took place after midnight. At some unspecified point in time, the board alleges, the two engaged in a sexual relationship.

The board charged Schleicher with initiating a sexual, emotional or social relationship with a patient; committing an act that may adversely affect a patient’s psychosocial welfare; and engaging in behavior that is contradictory to professional decorum.

As part of a settlement agreement in the case, Schleicher has agreed to the indefinite suspension of his license.

Before applying for reinstatement, he must complete a three-day instructional course on professional boundaries and ethics and undergo a comprehensive mental health exam.

Schleicher continues to deny the board’s allegations, according to the suspension order, and as part of the formal, written agreement with the board, he has stated that he entered into the settlement only to avoid the burden and expense of contesting the matter.