FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. (WSVN) – A Florida woman was arrested after authorities say she posed as a licensed nurse and provided medical care to more than 4,400 patients at a local hospital despite never holding a valid nursing license.
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office arrested 29-year-old Autumn Bardisa on Tuesday, following a seven-month investigation conducted in coordination with AdventHealth Palm Coast Parkway, the Florida Department of Health, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
According to investigators, Bardisa was hired by AdventHealth Palm Coast Parkway on July 3, 2023, as an advanced nurse technician.
During the hiring process, Bardisa claimed she had completed the educational requirements to become a registered nurse and later falsely asserted she had passed her national licensing exam, investigators said.
She reportedly provided a license number belonging to a different registered nurse with the same first name, claiming she had changed her last name due to marriage, but never produced a marriage certificate as requested.
The deception unraveled in January 2025 when Bardisa was being considered for a promotion.
According to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, a colleague checked her credentials and discovered her only certification was an expired CNA license.
Hospital administrators launched an internal review and terminated Bardisa on January 22 after she failed to verify her identity. The case was then referred to law enforcement.
Detectives later discovered that from June 2024 to January 2025, Bardisa provided medical services to 4,486 patients while impersonating a licensed nurse, according to FCSO.
Investigators also said that she had used personal identification information from a former nursing school classmate, who worked as a nurse at a different AdventHealth location but had no personal relationship with Bardisa.
On Tuesday, an arrest warrant was issued for Bardisa on seven counts of practicing a healthcare profession without a license and seven counts of fraudulent use of personal identification information.
She was taken into custody at her home by the FCSO Fugitive Unit and booked into the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility on a $70,000 bond.
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