Federal authoritiesin Florida have brought charges against 25 people for allegedly orchestrating a wire fraud scheme that created an illegal shortcut for aspiring nurses to get licensed and find employment in various states.
Recently, unsealed federal grand jury indictments allege the defendants took part in a scam that sold more than 7,600 fraudulent nursing degree diplomas from Palm Beach School of Nursing in Palm Beach County, Siena College in Broward County, and Sacred Heart International Institute in Broward County.
On the South Florida Roundup, WLRN’s Wilkine Brutus sat down with Dr. Louise Buie, an Assistant Dean in the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing at Florida Atlantic University, Dr. Gwen Randle, seasoned nurse anesthetist and member of Palm Beach County Black Nurses Association and reporter Jay Weaver, who covers the Federal Courts for The Miami Herald.
The FBI had been investigating these fraudulent nursing degree claims since 2019, according to Weaver. Throughout this process, one of the FBI's undercover sources was able to obtain a degree in the span of 13 days, confirming their suspicions. Prior to making the 25 arrests, they had already arrested four others in connection to the scheme.
About one-third of those that purchased these fraudulent degrees actually took and passed their licensing exam. The FBI has since contacted state nursing boards about this problem and given names. Weaver says the consequences of this don’t just affect the person involved but the healthcare system as a whole.
“They'll have their licenses revoked in these respective states where they're operating, and they'll probably be fired, ”he said. “This is a huge problem because there's a nursing shortage not only in Florida but across the country.”
Thousands of nurses will be removed from the workforce. Randall says she believes the perpetrators took advantage of the shortage and capitalized on it.
“In the state of Florida, for example, there are less than ten nurses per 1000 people for a population of roughly 21 million. So the perpetrators, I think, capitalized on that knowledge and ventured out on a very lucrative scheme to shortcut the nursing profession or state licensure,” she said.
There are already disparities in nursing education that make it difficult to boost their workforce. According to Buie, the largest shortage in nursing is faculty.
“You need enough faculty, you need enough clinical placements for the students, and we have limited access in those areas,” added the FAU Assistant Dean. “You need funding, and we know also that the pay rate for nursing faculty is low compared to nurses working in the field. So you have all of those factors that contribute to those low numbers.”
The investigation, dubbed “Operation Nightingale,” has created public concerns regarding safety and trust. Randall says people are already asking her if she’s a legitimate nurse.
“This scheme has jeopardized public safety. I think it has tarnished the reputation of nurses,” said the nurse anesthetist. “I would think [it] erodes patients' trust because already I've had people say, ‘are you the real nurse or a fake nurse?’ Now, whether that's a joke or whether it's not, it's still in the forefront of people's minds.”
She says that people want to make sure their loved ones are being provided with proper care from a competent, skilled, and caring individual so there may be questions like these being made to nurses.
“I think that's going to be a reality in some populations. Absolutely.”
As a reassurance, two hospital systems, Jackson Health and Memorial Healthcare, told WLRN that they undergo a rigorous vetting process for all nurse candidates through various background check measures.
Memorial Healthcare told WLRN that they have not been affected by the situation as of now. Jackson Health did not provide an update. The investigation is currently ongoing.
On this episode of the South Florida Roundup, we also spoke to The Miami Herald’s Sommer Brugal about the changes made to AP African-American Studies course, and to Floodlight’s Mario Ariza about the scandals involving Florida Power & Light.
