A Florida woman is facing charges after authorities say she treated more than 4,000 patients at a hospital while posing as a registered nurse. According to the Flagler County Sheriff's Office, 29-year-old Autumn Bardisa was arrested Tuesday—in her scrubs, per the BBC— following an investigation that revealed she provided care to 4,486 patients at AdventHealth Palm Coast Parkway in Palm Coast between July 2023 and her firing in January. Sheriff Rick Staly said Wednesday it was "one of the most disturbing cases of medical fraud we've ever investigated," per ABC News.
Bardisa was initially hired as an advanced nurse technician, a position that allowed her to work under supervision. When she applied, she said she had completed the education required to be a registered nurse but hadn't yet passed the licensing exam. She later claimed to have passed and supplied a license number that belonged to someone with the same first name but a different last name. Bardisa told the hospital she'd recently married, explaining away the name difference, but never showed a marriage license as requested. The deception came to light when Bardisa was offered a promotion and a colleague checked the status of her credentials, discovering she only had an expired certified nursing assistant license.
After hospital officials investigated and terminated Bardisa, they contacted law enforcement. Detectives found Bardisa had used credentials belonging to a nurse she'd attended school with but did not personally know. Bardisa now faces seven counts each of practicing without a license and fraudulent use of personal identification. She is being held on a $70,000 bond at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility. The sheriff's office is asking anyone who believes they were treated by Bardisa to reach out. (This woman allegedly used up to 20 aliases while posing as a nurse in multiple states.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
