A Tennessee nurse was arrested and charged on February 24, 2023, after treating thousands of patients without a license. Local police had received an anonymous tip about the 49-year-old woman, who worked at an in-house medical clinic for a major food processing plant.
According to police, the woman had graduated from the Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) program at the Tennessee College of Applied Technology in 2007. However, records from the Tennessee Board of Nursing showed that she failed the National Council Licensure Exam (NCLEX) twice in 2007. She never took the test again.
The woman was using a fake license with a number from two legitimate LPNs from Tennessee, but it’s unclear who forged the document. A police detective was able to get in contact with one of the nurses, who said she didn’t know the woman or anyone else in that area.
The woman has worked as a nurse at the clinic since 2007, and the detective said she treated around 15,000 patients over the years. He said he doesn’t think anyone there knew that she didn’t have a license, and that they just assumed that she did.
The woman is charged with 10 counts of impersonation of a medical professional and two counts of identity theft.
Compliance Perspective
Issue
Healthcare settings are required to conduct extensive background checks on all employees. These should be comprehensive in order to ensure that each potential employee is qualified and permitted to be employed in a healthcare facility that receives government funds. Before an employee is officially hired into a position, a criminal background check and sex offender registry search must be completed, and the individual must be cleared in the databases. Additionally, an identification verification check, past employment history, education verification, and OIG’s List of Excluded Individuals and Entities (LEIE) check must be completed for all employment candidates. For positions that need certifications or licenses, verification of these credentials must be conducted and documented in the individual’s personnel file. After hire, it is essential that the databases are continually monitored to ensure that no current employee has recently been placed on an exclusion list or had a license or certification suspended or revoked. Routine monitoring will ensure that employees are legally permitted to practice healthcare in your facility.
Discussion Points
- Review policies and procedures for verifying the status of professional licenses. Update as necessary.
- Train appropriate staff to follow protocols for verification of licenses and certifications of employees at the time of hire and on an ongoing basis to ensure that those licenses remain up-to-date and are unencumbered. Ensure that training is provided to licensed personnel about their responsibility to maintain an active license and to notify administration should their license be suspended, expire, or if they are added to the OIG’s LEIE. Document that these trainings occurred, and file the signed documents in each employee’s education file.
- Periodically audit to verify that the licensing and certifications of employees are valid and up to date. Immediately address any negative findings.
*This news alert has been prepared by Med-Net Concepts, LLC for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal advice.*
