Schools under fire! Fake Degrees Caught!

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Do you have fake nursing degree?

Have y'all heard about the fake degree scandal in Florida? Over 7,600 degrees handed out for a cash price..?

Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.
ButterflyBuns said:

Most nurses I've come across are hateful and idiotic...as long as you can pass a test and have common sense you can be a nurse.

That's not been my experience in 45 yrs in nursing...caring, resourceful, patient advocates; scant number of  nurses with poor skills, lacking in common sense.  It's important to give back to the profession to educate and nurture future nurses, maintaining high standards started by Florence Nightingale....which we do @ allnurses.

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Specializes in LPN.
NRSKarenRN said:

That's not been my experience in 45 yrs in nursing...caring, resourceful, patient advocates; scant number of  nurses with poor skills, lacking in common sense.  It's important to give back to the profession to educate and nurture future nurses, maintaining high standards started by Florence Nightingale....which we do @ allnurses.

Typically the nurses who have never experienced this are unfortunately; usually the individuals causing the toxic workplace environment whether they realize it or not

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Specializes in Home Health, PDN, LTC, subacute.

I was thinking these fake schools targeted foreign nurses?  Some CNAs I worked with were nurses in other countries and looking for a way back in. 

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.
Elektra6 said:

I was thinking these fake schools targeted foreign nurses?  Some CNAs I worked with were nurses in other countries and looking for a way back in. 

I think they were targeting LPNs too. Sad because there are legitimate bridges out there for them. 

I read that some nurses in Oregon are being investigated due to this. You can bet every single graduate of these programs is going to get a close eyeball with likely license revocation.

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Specializes in LTC.

I read that many of these "students" were already CNAs and looking for a shortcut to licensure.

They knew exactly what they were doing but so far nobody has taken action against them.

This inordinately pisses me off. Obviously the licensees should be annulled but these students should also be punished and never allowed to work in healthcare again.

Because they either knew exactly what they were doing or they lacked the critical thinking skills to figure out what was going on. So either way they have no business working in the field. 

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Specializes in School Nursing.
ButterflyBuns said:

Most nurses I've come across are hateful and idiotic...as long as you can pass a test and have common sense you can be a nurse. Too bad I didn't get an RN degree from this school.

Wow! I think that was a rather harsh statement. I'm not trying to be harsh back to you, but with that kind of attitude I can see why they may give you a hard time. 

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Nurse nurse said:

As far as my understanding went they what issued real ATT from the State board of nursing until the fraud started to be uncovered.

 

 

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Specializes in med-surg,psych, corrections, insurance,.

Hey ANN2016, ASN, CNA, LPN. I am confused. Are you a RN or a LPN?

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Specializes in med-surg,psych, corrections, insurance,.

If they got real permission to do tests documents then the BON is compliant too or maybe someone in the BON community involved with the schools. Something doesn't smell right. Why the time to detect this? In my state Virginia, the BON is very proactive and I have seen instances where there are issues with a school and they quickly try to shut it down or straighten it out if possible. 

 

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Specializes in LTC.
nursego said:

If they got real permission to do tests documents then the BON is compliant too or maybe someone in the BON community involved with the schools. Something doesn't smell right. Why the time to detect this? In my state Virginia, the BON is very proactive and I have seen instances where there are issues with a school and they quickly try to shut it down or straighten it out if possible. 

I'm thinking that these schools had accreditation at the time that this fraud was going on. The schools are all closed now according to the papers.

 

I'm assuming that the individuals who did this did so without the knowledge of the school administrators but who knows?

 

It's definitely going to be a long and messy investigation.

 

 

Delaware has already annulled 26 licenses and I hope the other states act as quickly. 

 

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Specializes in LTC.
NRSKarenRN said:

Fake Nursing Degrees has been discussed at allnurses periodically,

Since March 2022, AN members have discussed that the NY Board of Nursing was not granting nursing license to nurses  who  gradated from certain Florida nursing programs + passed NCLEX taken in NY nor release their NCLEX scores to another board of nursing as programs under BON review. Later, in fall 2022, members told that these programs under investigation.  

Ny BON Nursing School Under Investigation

I've posted a few times in that thread, last about Operation Nightingale conducted by HHS-OIG, the FBI and Justice Department who worked jointly on the operation -- link to federal lawsuit posted there.

Fake Nursing School Scammed Me

AN members have repeatedly advised members re paying for "online nursing degree education" without clinicals along with the need to "teach themselves material",  NCLEX pass rates < 25%  all signs of  problematic nursing program; much info provided in how to select quality nursing program.   The Feds stating today that 7,600+ persons PAID for a diploma without attending classes –that desperate to get into nursing profession.

Siena College in Broward County, Fla., Palm Beach School of Nursing in Palm Beach County, Fla. (ADN programs), and Sacred Heart International Institute in Broward County (LPN) program are now CLOSED

Fraudulent Nursing Diploma Scheme Leads to Federal Charges Against 25 Defendants

ABC News has been broadcasting extensively about this situation. Two of the defendents charged are in my area so covered by my local 6ABC News station.  They interviewed Dr. Pamela Zickafoose, the Executive Director of Delaware's Board of Nursing  who confirmed 26 Delaware nurses have licenses annulled amid nursing diploma investigation. They're awaiting response from PA and NJ BON.

In 2021, Tampa Bay Times posted details about a previous school in Florida + Virginia: Owners of Florida nursing schools charged with plotting to sell bogus diplomas

Obtaining a nursing license by paying for a diploma without attending school is HEALTHCARE FRAUD.  These 26 Delaware nurses whose license has been annulled can expect a lawsuit from both state attorney generals office/OIG and possibly from employer.   Feds are investigating to determine if any patient harm occurred by individuals with fraudulent licenses.

Some have posted that once you obtain a license in Florida, you can apply to another BON to get around not getting licensed in NY along that reciprocity automatically granted if license remains active in Florida - NOT TRUE, must meet state regulations when residence changes to a new state and individual state license required.  Multi-state compact license requires one to maintain residency in state it was originally obtained; its null upon establishing permanent residency in another state.  I'll write more about this in coming days.

This will be an ongoing story and a hard lesson for 7,600 individuals--potentially wrecking many lives.

This comment answered every single question I had that the CBS and ABC breaking stories did not answer. Thank you so much! 

 

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Specializes in Critical Care/MICU.
nursego said:

Hey ANN2016, ASN, CNA, LPN. I am confused. Are you a RN or a LPN?

I am both, one has expired last year though (My LPN). Its just telling my story... like a timeline, LOL

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