A Flagler County woman was arrested this week after investigators said she posed as a registered nurse and treated more than 4,400 patients at a hospital despite having no nursing license.
Autumn Bardisa, 29, of Palm Coast, was taken into custody Monday on seven counts of practicing a health care profession without a license and seven counts of fraudulent use of personal identification information. She is being held on $70,000 bail.
According to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, Bardisa used another nurse’s license number and false documents to work at AdventHealth Palm Coast Parkway from July 2023 until her firing in January 2025.
The nurse whose identity was used worked for AdventHealth at another location, attended the same school at the same time as Bardisa, was also named Autumn but was not acquainted with Bardisa, investigators said.
Hospital officials said Bardisa, using false documentation, was hired in June 2023 as an advanced nurse technician under the supervision of an RN. At the time, she claimed she completed the required education to become an RN but had not yet passed the national licensing exam, the sheriff's office said.
Bardisa later told supervisors she had passed the exam and provided a license number belonging to the other nurse, and when asked for a marriage license to explain the different last name, she never produced one, investigators said.
In January, Bardisa was offered a promotion, sparking interest among her colleagues, the sheriff's office said. A fellow employee checked the status of Bardisa’s license and discovered she had only an expired certified nursing assistant license, which the employee reported to administrators.
Hospital administrators then launched a review, confirmed the discrepancy, fired Bardia and contacted the sheriff’s office.
Investigators determined Bardisa participated in medical care for 4,486 patients from June 2024 to January 2025.
“This is one of the most disturbing cases of medical fraud we’ve ever investigated,” Flagler 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."
Anyone who believes they may have been treated by Bardisa is urged to email the Flagler sheriff's office at fakenursecase@flaglersheriff.com.
