Fool one healthcare facility, shame on you. Fool 40 of them? There…might be a bigger problem at play.
Maryland resident Thomasina Amponsah pleaded guilty to working as a nurse at not one, not two, but 40+ facilities across Maryland despite never having a nursing license, according to an Aug. 14 release from the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland.
Fraudulent nurses have been arrested in several states over the last year, from Pennsylvania to Florida, involving everything from stolen identities to fake degrees. People have also impersonated doctors and other professionals.
It’s a rare but avoidable mistake that puts patients’ lives and a healthcare facility’s reputation at risk, Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, president of trade organization the American Nurses Association, told us.
“When there are individuals who impersonate nurses, that breaks people’s trust. So it is very important to us to make sure the processes to ensure that these things don’t happen are strong,” Mensik Kennedy said.
The Maryland Board of Nursing “will continue to investigate and take appropriate action” against anyone caught misrepresenting themselves, Maryland Department of Health spokesperson
David McCallister told us.
Spotting signs. The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN), a membership group for state boards, said in its 2024 fraud detection guidance that fraudsters “look for the easiest entry routes,” taking advantage of organizations with lax hiring policies and loopholes.
Most practices have a thorough screening process with multiple checks built in, but some fail to verify the license matches up with the applicant’s identity, Mensik Kennedy said.
“It’s tough because there is a nursing shortage, and people feel the pressure to get nurses approved into the system and hired as quick as possible,” she added.
But while less thorough screening might speed up a hire, the cost of firing and replacing that person might not be worth it. Turnover of one bedside registered nurse (RN) costs the average hospital $61,110, and each facility loses an average of $3.9 million to $5.7 million per year amid the current 16.4% RN turnover rate, according to the 2025 NSI National Health Care Retention and RN Staffing Report.
To ensure applicants are qualified, NCSBN advises employers to look up people on its nurse licensure and disciplinary database, Nursys.
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The database allows employers to check for free if a person’s stated license number, birth year, and last four digits of their social security number match up. It also shows all their licenses and disciplinary history in other states and allows employers to get immediate alerts of any changes, Matt Sterzinger, NCSBN’s IT director, told Healthcare Brew.
Operation Nightingale. Sometimes, though, imposters obtain a license linked to their real identity.
In 2023, a federal investigation known as Operation Nightingale uncovered a now-defunct diploma mill that sold 7,600+ fake nursing diplomas and transcripts in Florida, New York, New Jersey, Texas, and Delaware. People who bought these fraudulent transcripts qualified to sit for the nurse licensure exam. About 37% passed, allowing them to work as nurses, the New York Times reported.
Mensik Kennedy said this problem is potentially exacerbated in states like New York and California, where applicants can take the exam an unlimited number of times with just a 45-day waiting period between each attempt. Other states require additional training after several failed exams.
“When you get the opportunity to take unlimited tests and then keep getting your scores back…you learn what areas you need to study,” she said.
Looking forward. There’s discussion in the industry of whether some facilities should do even more to screen applicants, Mensik Kennedy added.
For instance, most states take fingerprints when new nurses get their licenses in order to perform a criminal background check, but most facilities don’t verify fingerprints before hiring someone, she said.
Mensik Kennedy argued another form of “fingerprint,” which the ANA has been advocating for, could be if nurses were reimbursed per service, like doctors—creating a paper trail—rather than the current norm of paying them a salary that’s bundled into the costs of patients’ rooms.
Mensik Kennedy also believes state boards, which investigate reports of potential posers, need more resources and funding in order to more efficiently track down these imposters.
“Nursing, without a doubt, is a very highly specialized and ethical profession, which requires rigorous and lifelong learning and training,” she said. “You can’t just show up. And there are no shortcuts.”