Autumn Bardisa: Woman Arrested for Pretending to Be Licensed Medic, Treating over 4000 Patients
- A woman in Florida was arrested after allegedly treating over 4,400 patients while posing as a licensed nurse at a major hospital
- Autumn Bardisa, 29, was hired in 2023 and later claimed she passed her nursing exam, using another nurse’s license to support the lie
- Her deception unravelled in early 2025 when a colleague, suspicious of her promotion, discovered her real license had long expired
- Authorities charged her with multiple felonies after a joint probe confirmed she faked credentials and never held a valid nursing license
Didacus Malowa, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings over three years of experience covering politics and current affairs in Kenya.
A Florida woman is in police custody after allegedly posing as a licensed nurse and providing medical care to thousands of unsuspecting patients over several months.
Source: UGC
Flagler County authorities arrested 29-year-old Autumn Bardisa of Palm Coast on Tuesday, August 5, after a seven-month joint investigation involving the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO), AdventHealth Palm Coast Parkway, and state and federal health agencies.
Bardisa is accused of impersonating a registered nurse and fraudulently treating 4,486 patients despite lacking any valid nursing license.
Why was a probe launched against Autumn?
The investigation began in January 2025 after AdventHealth Palm Coast Parkway alerted law enforcement that they had terminated Bardisa for impersonating a registered nurse.
Hospital officials said Bardisa was hired on July 3, 2023, as an advanced nurse technician.
At the time, she claimed she had completed nursing school but had not yet passed the national licensing exam, a status known in the industry as education first.
Shortly after her hiring, Bardisa told the hospital that she had passed the exam and submitted a nurse license number.
The license belonged to another woman with the same first name, 'Autumn,' but a different last name.
When questioned, Bardisa claimed she had recently married and changed her name.
Hospital administrators requested her marriage certificate to verify the claim, but she never produced it.
How did Autumn's case unravel?
Her story began to unravel in January 2025 when Bardisa was offered a promotion.
A fellow employee, suspicious of her qualifications, checked the state’s nursing license registry and discovered that Bardisa only held an expired certified nursing assistant (CNA) license.
The internal red flag prompted the hospital to open its own investigation.
Hospital officials confirmed that Bardisa never submitted her marriage certificate as previously requested.
On January 22, 2025, AdventHealth terminated her employment and contacted the FCSO to open a criminal case.
Investigators later discovered that Bardisa and the nurse whose license she used had once attended the same school, but were not personally connected.
The licensed nurse was employed by a different hospital within the AdventHealth network.
Detectives from the FCSO, Florida Department of Health, and the US Department of Health and Human Services reviewed Bardisa’s employment records and interviewed staff.
They found that Bardisa had provided medical services to 4,486 patients between June 2024 and January 2025, none of whom were aware they were being treated by someone without a valid nursing credential.
Source: UGC
On August 5, detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Bardisa on seven counts of practising a health care profession without a license and seven counts of fraudulent use of personal identification information.
She was arrested at her Palm Coast residence by the FCSO Fugitive Unit and booked at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility. Her bond was set at approximately KSh 9 million.
"This is one of the most disturbing cases of medical fraud we’ve ever investigated. She put thousands of lives at risk by pretending to be someone she was not and violating the trust of patients, families, and the entire medical community," Sheriff Rick Staly said.
How did 'fake' Kenyan lawyer change her life?
Elsewhere, Sharon Atieno, once arrested in 2023 for allegedly using a real lawyer’s credentials to practice law, made a remarkable comeback.
Following her public humiliation and legal troubles, she persevered, undeterred by the ordeal.
On May 23, she was officially admitted to the roll of advocates and welcomed as a fully qualified lawyer.
Atieno celebrated the milestone as a triumph of resilience and hard work, dedicating her achievement to those who stood by her during the trial of her character.
Proofreading by Mercy Nyambura, copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
