Palm Coast woman impersonating registered nurse arrested
A Palm Coast woman, posing as a registered nurse at AdventHealth, was arrested after officials discovered she wasn’t actually licensed. FOX 35’s Kelsie Cairns learns more about how this woman ended up treating 4,486 patients without the proper qualifications.
PALM COAST, Fla. – A Florida woman was arrested Tuesday for allegedly impersonating a registered nurse and providing medical care to more than 4,400 patients without a valid license at an AdventHealth hospital in Flagler County, deputies said.
An investigation began after a hospital employee, reviewing her credentials for a potential promotion, discovered that the woman had an expired Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) license, authorities reported.
Fake nurse arrested in Florida, sheriff says
What we know:
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office said it launched an investigation into 29-year-old Autumn Bardisa after hospital administrators fired her for allegedly using another person’s license number and submitting false documents to gain employment as an advanced nurse technician at AdventHealth Palm Coast Parkway.
Bardisa was initially hired in July 2023 as an advanced nurse technician under the supervision of a registered nurse. She claimed to be an “education first” registered nurse, meaning she had completed the required schooling but had not yet passed the national licensing exam.
During the hiring process, Bardisa allegedly told the hospital she had passed the exam and provided a license number matching another nurse with the same first name. She explained the different last name by claiming she had recently married, but she never provided a marriage license to verify her identity, according to officials.
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In January 2025, while being considered for a promotion to be a charge nurse, a colleague discovered Bardisa had an expired CNA license, prompting an internal investigation that confirmed she had never verified her identity.
She was terminated that month, and the hospital contacted law enforcement to conduct a criminal investigation.
The Florida Department of Health and U.S. Health and Human Services investigators reviewed documents and spoke with AdventHealth employees and the nurse whose identity Bardisa is accused of stealing.
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They learned that Bardisa shared a first name with the other nurse, who was employed by AdventHealth, but at a different hospital, and had attended school with her. The two did not personally know each other.
Investigators later determined that Bardisa had provided medical care to 4,486 patients from June 2024 through January 2025 while unlicensed.
On Tuesday, an arrest warrant was issued for Bardisa on seven counts of practicing a healthcare profession without a license and seven counts of fraudulent use of personal identification – corresponding to the seven months she allegedly posed as a nurse. She was arrested at her Palm Coast home and is being held in the Flagler County jail on a $70,000 bond.
Pictured: Autumn Bardisa (Credit: Flagler County Sheriff’s Office)
‘This woman potentially put thousands of lives at risk’
What they’re saying:
“This is one of the most disturbing cases of medical fraud we’ve ever investigated,” Sheriff Rick Staly said in a statement. “This woman potentially put thousands of lives at risk by pretending to be someone she was not and violating the trust of patients, their families, AdventHealth and an entire medical community.”
Flagler sheriff speaks on nurse impersonator arrest
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly held a new conference on Wednesday about 29-year-old Autumn Bardisa. She was arrested Tuesday for allegedly impersonating a registered nurse and providing medical care to over 4,400 patients at a Flagler County hospital without a valid license, deputies said.
“Thanks to great investigative work between our detectives and State Attorney R.J. Larizza’s Office and AdventHealth, along with our state and federal partners, she’ll now be held accountable for her reckless and dangerous actions.”
What you can do:
Anyone who believes that they may have been a potential victim of Bardisa is asked to contact the sheriff’s office by email at [email protected] for more information.
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The Source: This story was written based on information shared by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office on August 6, 2025.
