Georgia, other states move to crack down on nurses with bogus diplomas

States are acting in the wake of Operation Nightingale, a federal investigation into what officials say was a wire fraud scheme in which several now-closed Florida nursing schools sold phony nursing diplomas and transcripts from 2016 to 2022. Twenty-five defendants have been charged, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Markenzy Lapointe announced in late January. (D.A. Varela/Miami Herald via AP, File)

Medical licensing officials in multiple states including Georgia are scrambling to stop nurses with fraudulent academic credentials from caring for patients, after three Florida schools were accused of selling thousands of bogus diplomas.

New York regulators told 903 nurses in recent weeks to either surrender their licenses or prove they were properly educated. Delaware and Washington state officials have yanked dozens of nursing licenses. Texas filed administrative charges against 23 nurses. More actions in additional states are expected.

In some cases, lawyers for the nurses contend states are questioning the credentials of caregivers who earned diplomas legitimately. But there’s wide agreement in the industry that nurses with fraudulent degrees need to be rooted out.