25 more Nigerian nurses charged with forgery in US

The Texas Board of Nursing in the United States has charged 75 nurses to court over falsification of certificates after conducting extensive investigations. Among the nurses, 43 were identified as Nigerians.

The investigation, tagged “Operation Nightingale,” was a coordinated effort by the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and was launched on January 25, 2023, to clamp down on the sale of false and fraudulent nursing degree diplomas and transcripts. The scheme allegedly sold nursing degree diplomas and transcripts obtained from accredited Florida-based nursing schools to unqualified individuals seeking licenses and jobs as registered nurses and licensed practical/vocational nurses. The Texas Board of Nursing charged the health workers at the District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

The scheme distributed over 7,600 fake nursing diplomas issued by three South Florida-based nursing schools: Siena College in Broward County, FL; Palm Beach School of Nursing in Palm Beach County, FL; and Sacred Heart International Institute in Broward County. The Texas Board of Nursing emphasized that formal charges are not a final disciplinary action, and the nurses are allowed to work while the formal charges are pending. However, the US authorities said that the list of charged nurses would be updated continuously as the board received additional information about “the fraudulent diploma/transcript scheme.”

The alleged selling and purchasing of nursing diplomas and transcripts to willing but unqualified individuals is a crime that potentially endangers the health and safety of patients and insults the honorable profession of nursing. Omar Aybar, the special agent in charge of the investigations, condemned the act, stating that it poses a risk to patients and discredits the nursing profession.