18 Pa. nurses linked to scam ordered to prove their credentials are real

By Wendy Ruderman, The Philadelphia Inquirer (TNS)

In early November 2022, the FBI alerted Delaware’s Board of Nursing to a scheme in which an owner of four Florida-based schools sold fake college degrees to students who then used the phony credentials to get nursing licenses from states nationwide.

Pamela Zickafoose, executive director of Delaware’s board, said she wasted no time. On Nov. 15, 2022, her board annulled the licenses of 26 nurses who had bought degrees for about $17,000 each.

Among the 26 was a registered nurse from Philadelphia who obtained a license to practice in Delaware — and in Pennsylvania, state records show.

It took Pennsylvania another six months to act. On May 8, Pennsylvania’s Board of Nursing sent a notice to that nurse — and 17 others — saying she had 30 days to contest allegations that she submitted a fraudulent associate’s degree in nursing when she applied to the board for a license in 2018.

Amy Gulli, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of State, which oversees the nursing board, said the 18 licensees facing administrative charges “must be given due process.” She declined to say when the FBI alerted Pennsylvania’s board to the scam, citing a law prohibiting disclosure of “confidential” investigations. She said the state’s investigations generally “take time.”

Federal authorities said they sent a list of implicated nursing students to licensing boards in every state.

So far, more than two dozen school operators and student recruiters have been charged in connection with the alleged distribution of more than 7,600 fake diplomas, netting more than $100 million. If convicted, they face 20 years in federal prison.

“It’s egregious,” said Zickafoose, a nurse for 42 years. “Nursing education is very, very hard, and it’s that way for a purpose, because we are caring for people’s lives.” In recent months, Delaware has annulled an additional nine nursing licenses, bringing the tally to 35, Zickafoose said.

In Pennsylvania, for now, the 18 individuals — all registered nurses, or RNs — hold “active” licenses as of May 26. None of the 18 has a history of disciplinary action, according to an Inquirer review of the state’s licensure database.

Reached by phone last week, Olasumbo Mary Akinmusire, the Philadelphia-based nurse whose license was annulled in Delaware, said she planned to fight Pennsylvania’s administrative charges. She declined to answer additional questions, including where she was employed, saying she was busy at work “taking care of a patient.”

“That’s scary,” said Wayne Reich Jr., chief executive director of the Pennsylvania State Nurses Association, an advocacy group with 3,500 members out of about 230,000 registered nurses statewide.

“It’s a fine line. You want to give an individual due process, but that’s an additional 30 days someone who may not have legally obtained a license is still practicing in the state,” Reich said.