Board of Nursing Guidance - Nursing Diploma Fraud 
February 27, 2023

On January 25, 2023, the FBI announced a fraudulent nursing diploma scheme to sell fraudulent nursing degree diplomas and transcripts obtained from accredited Florida-based nursing schools to individuals seeking licenses and jobs as RNs and LPNs/LVNs. The overall scheme involved the distribution of more than 7,600 fame nursing diplomas issued by three South Florida-based nursing schools: Siena College and Sacred Heart International Institute in Broward County, and Palm Beach School of Nursing in Palm Beach County.
MedPage Today featured a follow-up special report that highlighted the response by several individual state boards of nursing.

For current guidance from our local nursing boards:

Maryland Board of Nursing: In a February 9, 2023 update, the Maryland Board of Nursing requests that all employers who identify licensees who attended a nursing education program named above should submit the licensee’s name, license number, and employing agency/organization to sara.tongue1@maryland.gov. You can find new updates on the Maryland BON website.

District of Columbia Board of Nursing: The District of Columbia Board of Nursing, to date, has not released any specific instructions to employers regarding this matter. Until further direction is made available, MNCHA encourages you to flag these licensees and refer them, along with their name and license number, to DC Health via education.bon@dc.gov. Please check the DC BON website for future updates.