Press report reveals that Delaware's Board of Nursing has revoked the licenses of more than two dozen nurses allegedly holding fraudulent credentials from Florida nursing schools involved in the massive Operation Nightingale fraud scheme.
Delaware's Division of Professional Regulation is sending notices to nurses suspected of involvement in the scandal. Those notices disclose that the U.S. Department of Health sent the Delaware Board of Nursing a list of nurses whose credentials from the involved Florida may be fraudulent. Those notices further disclose that one or more officials from the suspect schools have attested to the sale of fraudulent credentials to the notified nurses. Nurses must respond to the notice promptly with required credentials proof or risk losing their license.
You need skilled and experienced professional license defense if you have received Delaware's notice that you are on the suspect credentials list or are a Delaware nurse holding credentials from one of the now-closed Florida nursing schools. Call 888.535.3686 or go online now to retain the Lento Law Firm's premier Professional License Defense Team for help answering Delaware's notice, appealing your license revocation, or otherwise fighting your Delaware nursing license issues relating to the Operation Nightingale fraud scheme.
Operation Nightingale Criminal Fraud Charges
The Delaware Board of Nursing's public acknowledgments that it has revoked more than two dozen nursing licenses for fraudulent Florida nursing school credentials follows on the heels of federal criminal fraud charges against those schools' officials. The FBI and federal HHS Operation Nightingale claims to uncovered evidence that more than 7,600 nurses paid a total over $100 million for bogus credentials from these now-closed Florida schools:
● MedLife Institute West Palm Beach;
● Palm Beach School of Nursing;
● Sacred Heart International Institute;
● Siena College;
● Quisqueya School of Nursing also called Sunshine Academy; and
● Quisqueya Health Care Academy.
Nationwide Nursing Impacts Beyond Delaware
Delaware nurses are not the only ones to face Operation Nightingale fraud investigations and license revocations. National hospital updates, nursing journals, and media stories repeat the allegations that thousands of nurses with suspect credentials from the closed Florida schools are facing state licensing boards and employer disciplinary actions. Other nursing schools from which the involved nurses earned course credits and degrees allegedly using their fake credentials are also taking action.
The scandal threatens nursing degrees, licenses, and careers nationwide in the face of unprecedented nursing shortages. Other state nursing boards have also revoked licenses of nurses holding the bogus credentials. The revocations have garnered strong support from the National Council of State Boards of Nursing.
Delaware Nursing Board Investigations
The Delaware Board of Nursing's public acknowledgments of revoking twenty-six nursing licenses for the fraudulent credentials did not disclose whether those nurses were working in Delaware and, if so, at which hospitals or other healthcare providers. The Board's public disclosure did, though, indicate that the nurses may appeal its license revocations. If that's you, then you can still fight for your license.
Other Delaware nurses are receiving Delaware Division of Professional Regulation notices stating:
You may have obtained a license from the Delaware State Board of Nursing through fraudulent misrepresentation by providing false information about your education on your application, so it appears you do not meet the statutory qualifications for licensure as noted above.
These notices are not final. While they allege that the nurses receiving the notices are on the list of nurses who received fraudulent credentials, you have the opportunity to challenge the Delaware Division of Professional Regulation's allegations. Just because federal officials claim to have an incriminating affidavit from a school official whom they charged with federal crimes does not mean that you committed any wrong. You have the due process right to defend state license disciplinary proceedings and appeal any adverse decision, if you are a Delaware nurse with credentials from the suspect Florida nursing schools.
Delaware Board of Nursing Investigation Authority
The Delaware officials who revoked the nursing licenses had statutory authority to do so, without saying that the evidence justified their actions. Section 1903 of Delaware's Nurse Practice Act creates the Delaware Board of Nursing. Section 1906 empowers the Board to establish educational requirements, issue licenses, and revoke licenses of nurses who fail to meet the Board's standards. Section 1922 expressly authorizes the Board to revoke the license of any nurse “guilty of fraud or deceit in procuring or attempting to procure a license to practice nursing.”
Delaware Nurse Employer Investigations
If the nurses suffering Delaware Board of Nursing license revocations in the Florida fraud scandal held nursing jobs at Delaware hospitals, clinics, or other healthcare employers, they very likely no longer do so. Section 1909 of Delaware's Nurse Practice Act requires nurses practicing in Delaware to hold a current Board of Nursing license. Employers in Delaware and across the nation have been notifying nurses with suspect credentials that they must prove their credential's authenticity or lose their job.
Premier Nurse License Defense Services in Delaware
If you have already suffered Delaware nursing license discipline related to the Florida nursing school fraud scandal, or if you have just received a notice of your investigation, or if you currently face or expect to face a disciplinary proceeding, immediately retain the Lento Law Firm's premier Professional License Defense Team and national license defense attorney Joseph D. Lento to help you fight your Delaware professional licensing issues. Call 888.535.3686 or go online now.
