The Georgia Board of Nursing has sent investigation notices to Georgia-licensed nurses whose credentials include education at one of the now-closed Florida nursing schools involved in the Operation Nightingale fake credentials scandal.
A healthcare industry update indicates that Georgia's Board of Nursing has demanded that twenty-two nurses surrender their licenses or the Board will seek to revoke those licenses. The same report indicates the removal of several of those nurses from their employment at an Atlanta Veterans Affairs hospital.
If you are a Georgia nurse who has received or expects to receive a license investigation notice in the nursing school fraud scandal, or job suspension, hire national professional license defense attorney Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm's License Defense Team now. Your Georgia nursing license and job are on the line. You need skilled professional license defense services to overcome your nursing license issues. Call 888.535.3686 or go online now for Georgia nursing license defense.
What Happened in the Nursing Schools Fraud Scandal
Operation Nightingale led the Department of Health & Human Services to obtain criminal fraud charges against more than two dozen nursing school officials. The charges allege that these Florida nursing schools allegedly sold thousands of fake nursing degrees and fraudulent nursing school transcripts:
- Sacred Heart International Institute;
- Quisqueya Health Care Academy;
- MedLife Institute West Palm Beach;
- Quisqueya School of Nursing, also called Sunshine Academy;
- Palm Beach School of Nursing; and
- Siena College.
Georgia Board of Nursing Investigation Notice
The Georgia Board of Nursing and other state nursing boards nationwide have sent investigation notices to nurses, many of them Haitian or African immigrants, whose credentials reflect education at these schools. The Georgia Board of Nursing notices demand that the involved nurses surrender their licenses within thirty days.
Report indicates that nurses are choosing not comply with the Board's surrender demand. Those nurses will need skilled representation before the Board to defend their licenses. The FBI is helping the Georgia Board of Nursing and other state boards gather evidence to present at disciplinary hearings for those nurses who refuse to comply.
Georgia Board of Nursing Authority
The Georgia Nurse Practice Act authorizes the Georgia Board of Nursing to establish licensing regulations establishing nursing education and other standards with which also Georgia-licensed nurses must comply. Georgia Code Section 43-26-10 expressly prohibits practicing nursing “under cover of any diploma, license, or record illegally or fraudulently obtained, signed, or issued.” The Georgia Board of Nursing thus has the authority to suspend or revoke your nursing license if your credentials include the allegedly fake degrees or fraudulent transcripts.
Georgia Employer Notices to Nurses
Georgia employers have also been notifying nurses with the suspect credentials. Report indicates that a Veterans Affairs hospital in Atlanta has already removed several nurses to protect patients. Those nurses will benefit from skilled representation defending their employment. Employer notices nationwide are suspending or terminating nurses whose qualifications reflect education from the closed Florida nursing schools. Employers are also turning nurses over to their state licensing board for credentials investigation.
Retain Georgia License Defense Services
Retain skilled and experienced representation if the Florida nursing school fraud scheme is threatening your Georgia nursing job and license. Professional license defense attorney Joseph D. Lento and his License Defense Team have helped hundreds of nurses and other professionals successfully address their professional license issues. Call 888.535.3686 or go online now for Georgia nursing license representation.
