Florida woman who posed as nurse treating 4,400 patients avoids jail time

A Florida woman who faked her way into a hospital job and treated thousands of patients walked out of court this week with probation and community service, no jail time. It’s a case that had investigators shaking their heads a bit, saying the scale of it was hard to ignore.

Autumn Bardisa, 29, of Palm Coast, entered a no-contest plea on Tuesday to unlicensed practice of healthcare and fraudulent use of identification information, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.

Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols withheld adjudication and sentenced her to five years of probation and 50 hours of community service. She also has to write a letter of apology to the nurse whose license number was used.

As part of the agreement, Bardisa forfeited the nursing license she obtained after her arrest to the Florida Department of Health and is barred from working in any medical role during probation.

Authorities say Bardisa treated more than  4,400 patients between June 2024 and January 2025 while working at AdventHealth, all while falsely presenting herself as a licensed nurse. Investigators later confirmed she never held a valid nursing license during that period.

The case started to unravel when hospital staff began noticing inconsistencies in her credentials. Bardisa had initially applied under an “education first” designation, typically used for nursing graduates awaiting exam results, then later claimed she had passed her licensing exam and provided a license number belonging to another nurse with the same first name.

To explain discrepancies in her records, she told staff she had changed her last name after marriage, but never provided supporting documents when asked.

Despite those issues, investigators say she was still promoted in January 2025 before a coworker independently checked her credentials and discovered she only held an expired certified nursing assistant license. That discovery triggered hospital reporting and a wider investigation involving multiple agencies.

Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said Bardisa’s actions put patients at risk and damaged trust in healthcare. "Nursing is a noble profession about caring for those in need, but there is a right way and wrong way to go about it, and she chose the wrong way by using a real nurse's license," Staly said, adding that her actions "potentially endangered patients."

Staly also said Bardisa "ruined her career" and will be unable to work in the medical field for at least three years and up to five years under the terms of her probation.

Officials said anyone who believes they may have been treated by Bardisa can contact the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.