Several schools across the United States have been identified in a scheme that resulted in nurses getting issued fake nursing degrees. In fact, some students even completed the education requirements to obtain their degree, and they have now lost their licenses.
According to several sources, more than 7,600 students from three Florida institutions were issued fake nursing degrees. While it may seem like these students intentionally mislead state nursing boards for financial gain or fraud, the truth is murkier than that. This is because many students claim that they took the required courses and received a proper education, even if the nursing degree itself was a fake.
Unfortunately, this has created a controversial witch-hunt for these false nursing degrees, and it’s having a serious impact on students, hospitals, and the medical industry as a whole.
If you’re curious about what’s going on with fake nursing degrees or want to learn about how to detect them, you’re in the right place. We’ll catch you up on details about this fake nursing scandal that happened in 2023 and show you how to spot someone’s fake nursing degree.
What Is a Fake Nursing Degree?
You probably know all about college degrees and the opportunities they can open up for students. While degrees from accredited schools have been a staple of career progression for decades, it has also led to fake degree mills – a seven-billion-dollar industry.
According to the United States Department of Education, these degree mills are fraudulent schools that sell fake degrees to people who don’t attend classes. The goal is to issue degrees to people who pay for fake degrees instead of taking and passing classes to achieve their degrees.
This has led to people getting jobs they aren’t technically qualified for. A great example is Scott Thompson’s Yahoo scandal. Allegedly, the CEO had a bachelor’s in computer science, but he had to resign after reports came out that his degree was not legitimate.
What Is the Fake Nursing Degree Scandal of 2023?
The whole fake nursing degree problem comes down to specific actions from three Florida schools that occurred in 2023. These schools sold fake nursing degrees to 7,600 students for 114 million dollars.
While fake nursing degrees can get someone into a program or allow them to sit for a test, some of the students were unable to pass the exam, so the problem stopped after they purchased the degree. However, around 2,800 nurses sat for nursing board exams and managed to pass them. The result is almost 3,000 falsely-credited nurses applying to hospitals across the United States.
While it was hard to find some of these fake nurses at first, states have started to find fake nurses and revoke their licenses. That said, many students feel strongly about this issue because they passed the exams, paid for an education, and became nurses.
What Schools Are the Most Fake Nursing Degrees From?
We can’t be sure about fake nursing degrees from every school, and fake degrees are starting to become a problem in every industry due to forgery, in addition to ChatGPT and other AI tools. That said, the three schools involved in the fake nursing degree scandal are Siena College, Palm Beach School of Nursing, and Sacred Heart International Institute.
While these schools were accredited universities in the past, they have since lost their accreditations due to the scandal. These schools are only a small fragment of a larger fake degree mill issue.
What Was the Result of the 2023 Fake Nursing Degree Scandal?
According to the United States Department of Justice, federal charges have been issued against 25 defendants. Each defendant in the case is now facing up to 20 years in prison for their actions. The reason for the lengthy sentence is due to the implications in future cases, how many fake nurses there now are, and liability for injured people who fake nurses are attending to.
While charges have been filed, things are just starting to heat up with this case. This is because plenty of nurses are still employed, and plenty of additional administrators may have charges brought against them at a later date. What’s more, only five defendants have pleaded guilty, so there are still plenty of open cases available.
Aside from people having charges brought against them, states like Delaware have already revoked more than 25 nursing licenses due to implications from the case. Other state boards are also looking for these fake nursing degrees, so the case is not over.
What Are the Dangers of Fake Nursing Degrees?
There are a lot of dangers that come with fake nursing degrees. While some students may have earned their degree and got unlucky due to the school not being accredited or lying to them, other students may only be in it for the money, and they might not know much about being a nurse.
In a field as important as nursing, fake degrees can cause real problems, including:
- Risks to patient health
- A loss of trust in healthcare providers and institutions
- A loss of respect and trust for the nursing profession
- Damage to an individual’s reputation
- Increased liability
- Fines and loss of government funding
Depending on the situation, there may be other risks associated with working with nurses who have fake degrees.
Additionally, having a fake degree as a nurse is inherently risky, as some nurses can be charged with fraud and other criminal charges if they willingly lie about their nursing degree.
How to Spot a Fake Nursing Degree
There are a few ways to spot a fake nursing degree. You can partner with PublicRecord.com or do some research on your own. There are also some other signs that someone’s degree might not be legitimate, such as education timelines that don’t make sense.
Learn more about how to spot a fake nursing degree below.
Run a Background Check
The best way to spot a fake nursing degree is to run a background check. Nursing background checks should verify employment history, education history, criminal records, and much more. While you can spend a lot of money working with a background check agency, you can find out if a nursing degree is fake on your own by utilizing PublicRecords.com.
Our people search tool can help you verify someone’s identity, criminal records, and much more. All you need to get started is someone’s first and last name, state, and city. From there, we can help you verify their background and compile a full report that includes everything that’s publicly available about them.
In fact, you can verify things like where they live or used to live, divorce records, and much more. Ultimately, we make it easy to do a deep dive into someone’s public records to help you make the right hiring decisions.
If you plan on running a background check on a nurse, just make sure you have their consent first if you plan on hiring them or if they work for you already; it is against background check laws to utilize a people search tool on someone for a pre-hiring screening without their consent.
Degree From a Different State
While this isn’t true for every situation, because people leave the state they live in to attend school all the time, nursing degrees from out of state could potentially be fake
This becomes problematic if a person went to school in Florida and went to any of the nursing schools that were involved in the fake nursing degrees scandal. Even if people got a fake degree from a different school, it would likely be from a different state because it’s easier to hide.
Lack of Accreditation
The United States Department of Education maintains a list of accredited universities for the nursing industry. You can check this list to ensure the school issuing a nursing degree is accredited. If the school isn’t on the list, there’s a good chance that the nursing degree from that school is fake. Schools can close or lose accreditation after someone attends, so make sure you take a deeper dive before jumping to conclusions.
The Degree Was Earned Rapidly
This is one of the harder ways to tell because some people are good at hiding their tracks. Depending on the nursing degree and type of nurse that someone wants to be, there is a timeline for how long it takes to obtain the required credentials. If someone receives them too fast, there’s a chance that the degree is fake.
The Degree Was Earned Out-of-Sequence
When someone earns a college degree, they have to go a specific route. You need to have a GED or high school diploma first, then you have to get your associate’s or bachelor’s degree, and from there, you can get a master’s or join a doctorate program. Someone who has accomplished these degrees in the wrong order is likely lying.
Be Prepared for Fake Nursing Degrees
Whether or not a nurse is at fault for having a fake nursing degree is not a decision you can make easily. What’s more important is spotting these fake nursing degrees and removing fake nurses from your organization, which can reduce liability and keep patients safe.
While fake nursing degrees were issued to a lot of people, it’s easy to check someone’s education and professional history with a background check. You can always use our people search tool to learn more about a nursing applicant. That said, make sure you have someone’s consent before running a background check for employment to prevent legal issues.
Additionally, you may want to make an effort to check national databases and work with investigators to learn more about potential fake nursing degrees in your area.
