Nurses licensed and registered in the State of New York are receiving notices from the Director of the Division of Professional Licensing Services of the New York State Education Department's Office of the Professions. Those notices are going to nurses whose credentials are from one of several Florida nursing schools accused of selling fake degrees and transcripts.
National professional license defense attorney Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm's License Defense Team are available to represent you in New York before the Division of Professional Licensing relating to the Florida nursing schools fraud scandal. Let attorney Lento help you with your nursing license and employment issues. Call 888.535.3686 or go online now for premier license defense services.
Florida Nursing Schools Fraud
The federal Department of Health & Human Services' Operation Nightingale obtained criminal fraud charges alleging one or more of these schools' sale of fake degrees and transcripts to thousands of nurses, many of them Haitian and African immigrants:
- Quisqueya Health Care Academy;
- Quisqueya School of Nursing also known as Sunshine Academy;
- Palm Beach School of Nursing;
- MedLife Institute West Palm Beach;
- Sacred Heart International Institute; and
- Sienna College.
Your New York nursing license, employment, and career is at risk if your nursing credentials include education at one of these schools. Allegedly fraudulent credentials from these schools helped many individuals gain admission to nursing schools in New York and elsewhere. Others have used the suspect credentials to qualify for the NCLEX licensing exam and New York nursing licensure, for employment in New York hospitals, clinics, and other locations.
New York Nursing License Notices
The New York State Education Department (NYSED) licenses and registers nurses for practice under the state's nurse licensing laws. Those laws authorize the Division of Professional Licensing Services to investigate nurses whose credentials do not satisfy the licensing law's education requirements. The Director's investigation notices under these laws warn that if your credentials include education at one of the above closed Florida nursing schools, “your education credited toward licensure and your score on the NCLEX examination for nursing are both in question and it appears that you did not, in fact, meet the requirements for licensure in New York.”
The Director's notices give the accused nurses two options. The first option is to surrender the license and give up nursing practice in New York. The second option is to submit evidence that you received the education and earned the grades, credits, and degrees that your credentials assert. Retain attorney Lento to help you evaluate your licensing case, choose your best option, and respond appropriately to the Director's notice.
New York Nursing Employer Notices
New York hospitals, clinics, and other employers of nurses are sending their involved nurses their own notices. In some cases, those notices suspend or terminate the nurse's employment. In other cases, the notices give the accused nurse the opportunity to prove the authenticity of the suspect credential. Some employers are threatening to turn nurses over to the Director for state licensing discipline.
Premier License Defense Attorney Available in New York
Retain national the Professional License Defense Team at the Lento Law Firm to represent you in New York over these allegedly fraudulent credentials, before the state licensing board, with your New York employer, or at your nursing school. Attorney Lento and his team have helped hundreds of professionals in New York and nationwide resolve nursing and other professional license issues. Call 888.535.3686 or go online now.
