Imposter nurse kept ruse going through lies, delays: Fla. sheriff

(NewsNation) — The Florida woman who allegedly treated thousands of patients for nearly two years while posing as a licensed nurse was able to sustain the ruse through a series of fraudulent maneuvers, the sheriff whose office arrested her says.

Autumn Marie Bardisa, 29, of Palm Coast, was arrested Tuesday and hit with charges that include practicing health care without a license and fraudulent use of personal identification information. She provided medical services to nearly 4,500 people from June 2024 until January 2025, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office said.

Sheriff Rick Staly appeared on Friday's “Banfield” to explain how Bardisa could have pulled off such an alleged con.

He said she graduated from college with a nursing degree but failed her state licensing exam. A hospital hired her as an advanced nurse tech under the supervision of a registered license nurse, he said, with the understanding she would pass the licensing exam. Bardisa, however, did not show up on the exam date, the sheriff said.

Nurse imposter lied about marriage to explain different name: Sheriff

When hospital officials asked her for her license number, Staly said Bardisa gave them one for a woman with a different last name, explaining she’d gotten married.

“What she had done is assumed the name and identity of another nurse that is, in fact, registered in Florida and licensed, who had the same first name but a different last name,” Staly said.

The hospital ended up firing Bardisa after she failed to provide a marriage certificate proving her name change, he said. The institution later notified the sheriff’s office, which began investigating.

Bardisa took the state licensing exam and passed, he said, and was working for a home health care agency at the time of her arrest.

She was being held on $70,000 bond at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility, his office said.