Posted on 05/12/2023 9:47:07 PM PDT by Libloather
In late January, the Department of Justice (DoJ) announced it had charged 25 individuals allegedly involved in a fraud scheme to issue fake nursing diplomas in Florida, with an estimated 7,600 such qualifications being handed out.
At the time, it was unclear how many of the students caught up in the scheme were aware of the fraud or were, as Omar Perez Aybar, a Department of Health and Human Service agent, described "willing but unqualified individuals."
Now, two of those "willing but unqualified" nurses have told of the adversity they have faced, losing jobs and livelihoods, and the legal challenge several are planning in the hope they can have their diplomas recognized.
The two nurses, one of whom is involved in the potential litigation, spoke to Newsweek on condition of anonymity, over concerns about the legal sensitivities of the case and their names being linked to the schools, which were closed by investigators because of their alleged involvement in the wire-fraud scheme.
"It's like you can't even mention what school you went to now, just in fear of being blacklisted or outcast," David, not his real name, said. "Everyone thinks everyone that went to these schools paid for their degree, which is not true."
According to the DoJ, three schools- Siena College of Health, Palm Beach School of Nursing and the Sacred Heart International Institute- in south Florida created "false and fraudulent" diplomas and transcripts that nursing students could then purchase.
It said "the aspiring nurses never completed the necessary courses and clinicals" to be qualified- a claim Jamaal R. Jones, a health lawyer in Miami, intends to contest on behalf of his clients.
The diplomas obtained from the schools allowed students to go on to sit nursing board exams and obtain licenses as registered nurses in several U.S. states.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...
Nor are there a lot of places to do the required clinical rotations.
About 15 years ago....the US Army in Europe came to realize that around forty to fifty people hired to GS positions requiring a bachelor’s degree....had a fake degree (some going back five to ten years). They were nice about it....giving them a month or two notice, but all were released.
I saw that the translators were giving the cdl licensees answers at the dmv.
I was told that local hospitals passed many foreigners as nurses aids and as nurses so the hospitals would have translators on all shifts and to stop paying for government required translators at 70 to 125 dollars an hour.
I was told that the aids were unqualified and uninterested. The LCSW who told me this realized how bad it sounded after she spoke.
I am so ashamed of our country.
That is certainly not true every where.
See my post downstream. I am multi lingual and I knew.
First Time NCLEX Pass Rates and Schools
According to the NCSBN, the national first time NCLEX-RN pass rate for US educated nurses in 2020 was 86.5% and the PN pass rate for the same period of time was 83%. The pass rate for repeat RN test-takers was only 42.9% and for PN 35.6%. The NCSBN publishes annual and quarterly NCLEX pass rates on a state level, if you’re interested in seeing how your school stacks up. Regardless of your school’s pass rate, remember that your ability to properly prepare for and pass the NCLEX is 100% in your own hands.
Some nursing schools do not graduate the students who do not pass. So the school has a 100% pass rate. Example I know a school that took in 90 students annually but routinely graduated about 54. Excellent nurses but they were all put through a wringer.
Along with the students who were expelled They would routinely evaluate school tests and inform students that they were not graduating. The students had the option of staying another semester. Then taking the state retest.
Those were the days when the exams were taken in civic centers over two days at long tables of 4 with 200 nurse-lngs and a ton of proctors.
Medical schools are the same.there is no shortage of people able to be Dr’s. Just a shortage of med school positions controlled by AMA.
Med schools did not take into consideration that when they let in women and that when women became half or more of their classes that there were specialties women would not do. Surgical ones in particular. Many of the difficult ones. They tend to flock to pedes, internal med, and psych. They tend to work many less hours and often raise families.
Whenever you hear Dr crunch. Blame them.
2 days of testing in several different fields of nursing has turned into a computer test of a minimum of 85 correct answers up to 135.
No money and loads of abuse. Women run organizations are often toxic.
Again self induced by ridiculous liability standards
Haitians
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The indictment charges Ludnie Jean of Harris County, Texas; Serge Jean of Harris County, Texas; Simon Itaman of Harris County, Texas; Anna Itaman of Harris County, Texas; Rhomy Louis of Suffolk County, N.Y.; and Nadege Auguste of Broward County with conspiring to and committing wire fraud. It is alleged that these defendants solicited and recruited individuals who sought nursing credentials to gain employment as an LPN/VN. These recruiters then arranged with Charles Etienne, Sacred Heart’s owner, to create and distribute false and fraudulent transcripts and diplomas representing that the aspiring candidates had attended Sacred Heart and completed the necessary courses and clinicals to obtain LPN/VN diplomas. In fact, the aspiring nurses never completed the necessary courses and clinicals. Etienne is charged by information with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Before going to college or vocational school, first verify the quality of the education by asking employers in that field what the good schools/majors/degrees are. The people you’ll one day ask to hire you are the people who know what kind of education has real value. Ask them before, not after, you spend time and money on training.
There are no written boards yearly any nurse must pass. What state is that nurse in? There are yearly skills days where nurses have to demonstrate some proficiency in bed side procedures that are routine but it isn’t accurate to say there are yearly examinations that are required. These skills fairs are a condition of employment in hospitals in order for the hospital to demonstrate objective data demonstrating clinical qualifications from the nursing staff.
I have never heard of a nurse failing in these clinical check offs. It’s like a pilot who has to take a check ride with an instructor every so often. These check rides are often done on live flights with real paying customers in the back and the flying public doesn’t even know.
I will leave for the possibility that states set their own standard for licensing so perhaps there are states that require this but the standard generally applied is that licensees must present a certain number of continuing medical education credits per licensing cycle split equally over the two years of a license.
ANYTIME a government certification of any sort is required for ANYTHING, you can rest assured that there is fraud and corruption involved. THAT is the reason these certifications were instituted in the first placd, only under the cover of "the public good". Not unlike the lie of "public service" being used to describe government employment.
1. The AMA is a lobbying group and a very liberal one at that. They suck. But they do not set the number of medical school seats.
2. The doctor crunch to the extent that there is one is more based on the onerous amounts demands placed on a doctors time. This limits or reduces patient care time. If, for example, I didn’t have to spend statistically 20 minutes charting per patient to check off all the bullsh*t boxes that do nothing to contribute to patient care i and my colleagues could actually spend more time engaged in clinical care instead of being paper pushers. Charts used to be how we communicated with other physicians. Now it’s to prevent getting sued frivolously or denied payment.
I, for one, would take the risk of allowing free market economics to prevail in medicine and i think we would make a better living in that environment which would also result in an increase in quality and time delivered at bedside. And shockingly the last time I checked something like 80 - 85 cents of every dollar spent on health care went non direct patient care related expenses.
For this and many other reasons is why I believe non-clinically trained administrators are the most evil thing in healthcare. But sadly we as physicians have no one to blame but ourselves as years ago our brethren who are now retired didn’t take care of the profession because they deemed unworthy if their time. Perhaps the most stupid thing we have done as physicians and trust me there is no shortage of stupid decisions we have made relative to the business of medicine.
The article isn't clear on this point, but it appears that these are legitimate nursing schools, but that some of the "graduates" paid for certificates they did not earn. Erle Stanley Gardner never finished a semester of law school, but passed the bar in California, and successfully litigated cases, after working as a clerk in a law firm. There may have been cases where someone working in a hospital (without treating patients) could study exam cram books (I'm pretty sure I could pass the bar exam that way) and be admitted to practice.
Teaching degrees are known to be worthless for indicating pedological skill. Teachers who know the material are more effective than those who do not, a masters degree in education has no measurable effect.
Not AMA looks like the folks in charge of residencies.
You are correct. Onerous and ineffective paperwork is a factor. Lack of medical staffing due to shortages is also a factor a big one. The we didn’t anticipate the change that came with feminization of medicine is poor excuse.
Non clinical administrators should be shot at dawn.
If like almost all of our other standardized tests, it has been significantly dumbed down over the decades.
There is test theory that says you can answer xx number of questions you would have passed the entire 2 day exam.
Years ago my sister graduated from a 2 year college as an LPN. She then tested to a RN.
That pathway to RN changed years ago. Now you have to obtain the RN through college curriculum. My neighbors daughter graduated last year from an accredited RN program at JMU.
I think a lot of people are mistaking nurses assistants or LPNs for actual registered nurses. Nurse’s assistants are a dime a dozen and can probably receive instruction obtained online or through a short course for the abbreviated skillset.
The scary part is that these assistants are hired en masse at Elderly Care Facilities... bed pan changers, sponge baths, vitals... general neglect at the farm system. Going to a nursing home is a slow death sentence, and makes a good case for euthanasia. Moo...
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