Latest news with #OperationNightingale
Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Health
- Hindustan Times
Connecticut nurse suspended over fake degree from Florida-based school in federal probe
The Connecticut Board of Examiners for Nursing has suspended the license of a nurse who earned her degree from a Florida-based nursing school now linked to a federal criminal case. The school's owner is currently under indictment, raising questions about the legitimacy of credentials issued. Also Read: Dave Portnoy loses his calm and berates Kirk Minihane over a Jewish joke: 'Shut the….' Althea Rosemarie Grant McLean received her nursing degree from Carleen Health Institute in Florida, one of several schools targeted in the federal 'Operation Nightingale' investigation. According to state and federal documents, the school's owners were indicted for issuing fraudulent nursing credentials. The individuals who were connected to these institutes were distributing diplomas for nursing without providing any required training. The Federal authorities of Florida revealed that they were involved in an 'illegal licensing and employment shortcut for aspiring nurses.' In February, Carleen Noreus, who is the owner of Carleen Health Institute, was indicted by the authorities as part of the investigation, as revealed by the federal documents. She is accused of wire fraud and money laundering for allegedly sending fake diplomas and transcripts to employers, falsely claiming individuals had completed nursing degree requirements, according to official documents. Over two dozen others were also arrested as part of the investigation, as reported by CT Insider. Also Read: Who is Yulissa Escobar? Love Island USA contestant dismissed for hurling the N-word The DHP documents stated that Grant McLean sought and obtained a Connecticut license to practice nursing in 2023. She is one of the 58 nurses who either voluntarily relinquished their licenses or had them revoked by state nursing boards due to their ties to fraudulent nursing degree programs, according to DHP officials. A statement of charges issued by DPH investigators revealed that without the required training, Grant McLean stands as a 'clear and immediate danger to public health and safety. On Tuesday, the board voted to suspend her license to practice nursing until a hearing is held on the matter. She did not attend the meeting, which was held virtually. It is yet to be clarified if Grant McLean was aware of the scam while she was attending the school for the nursing diploma.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Board of Nursing has cleared hundreds of cases of questionable documentation for nurses
(Photo by) The Maryland Board of Nursing said it has cleared almost all of the 259 nurses and nursing applicants who may have obtained a Maryland license using fraudulent documents from a scheme revealed in Florida more than two years ago. The board said that it found 'no cause to take disciplinary action' against 205 of the Maryland cases linked to 'Operation Nightingale,' a multistate investigation by federal official in 2023 of a Florida-based wire fraud scheme that provided bogus documentation of nursing credentials. The board did revoke the 'privilege to practice in Maryland' for three nurses and voted to issue charges against seven others, who were referred to the Office of the Attorney General for prosecution. Three nurses voluntarily surrendered their licenses, another 12 applicants withdrew their applications for a registered nurse license in Maryland and the board voted to dispose of another three without taking action. Those numbers were included in the board's response to an Office of Legislative Audits report released last week that was a followup to a 2024 inquiry into several boards and commissions that oversee health care facilities or practitioners. Among the findings of the report, which covered the period from September 2019 to July 2023, was that the agencies often failed to investigate complaints against licensees in a timely manner — a problem the auditors said could be due to staffing shortages during that period. The report said that the 20 boards and commissions it studied had a total of 4,916 open cases as of February 2024, but that 3,051 of those had been open more than two years. The Board of Nursing, the largest by far of all the boards, had 2,411 cases that had been open more than two years, it said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The auditors also reported in February 2024 that the nursing board could not provide documentation that it had investigated any of the 259 nurses whose names came up as part of Operation Nightingale — a claim the board disputed at the time, and again last week. The board now says it is missing documentation for just 26 of those 259. While that is a significant improvement, the OLA report adds on to other audits that raise concerns in oversight and documentation of Board of Nursing and the Department of Health over several years. The Operation Nightingale investigation became public in a January 2023 post from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. It said its investigation, along with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office, uncovered three Florida nursing schools tied to 'bogus' nursing degree diplomas and transcripts that were sold to 'aspiring' Registered Nurses (RN) and Licensed Practical/Vocational Nurse (LPN/VN) to qualify for the national nursing board exam. 'Upon successful completion of the board exam, the nursing applicants became eligible to obtain licensure in various states,' the HHS statement said. 'Once licensed, the individuals were then able to obtain employment in the health care field. The overall scheme involved the distribution of more than 7,600 fake nursing diplomas and transcripts. These schools are now closed.' Former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Markenzy Lapointe said at the time that the wire fraud scheme 'erodes public trust in our health care system.' 'Not only is this a public safety concern, it also tarnishes the reputation of nurses who actually complete the demanding clinical and course work required to obtain their professional licenses and employment,' Lapointe said in the 2023 statement. The Maryland Board of Nursing was notified of 287 nurses or nursing applicants who may have received licensure with false credentials, with the expectation that the Maryland board would look into those cases. By February 2024, the board said it had reviewed most of those cases, even though the OLA said it lacked documentation at the time for that claim. At that time, 131 of those nurses had been working within the Maryland health system, the OLA said. The Board of Nursing agreed that the audit's findings were factual and has since located much of the missing documentation regarding those 259 nursing licenses — though documentation for 26 cases are still missing. 'Board of Nursing has located a substantial amount of the records documenting the work conducted to screen and process the 259 individuals who may have obtained licensure in Maryland using fraudulent credentials,' the board responded in the April audit report. The board believes that it will resolve the outstanding 26 cases by July. The Board of Nursing has a list of the actions it has taken related to nursing licenses involved in Operation Nightingale. ola_boardofnursing
Miami Herald
31-01-2025
- General
- Miami Herald
‘Long-lost' Iron Age artifacts discovered by veterans near UK airfield. Take a look
The island of Anglesey, Wales, is home to Royal Air Force Valley, an air force base and training facility for the next generation of fighter pilots in the United Kingdom. First opened in 1941, the airfield sits on thousands of years of history, and when construction began in September on improvements to the airfield, the Royal Air Force (RAF) called for help from archaeologists to sift through the sediment. It wasn't just historians and researchers who answered the call. A number of military veterans, through a program called Operation Nightingale, joined the search, according to a Jan. 27 news release from the Defense Infrastructure Organization (DIO). The program 'sees injured and sick personnel and veterans taking part in archaeological investigations across the defense estate, providing unique experiences in the field,' according to the organization, and now they've made a significant discovery that's been declared a 'national treasure.' As the veterans searched near the airfield, they discovered 'long-lost' artifacts from the Iron Ages, likely part of the 'famed Llyn Cerrig Bach' hoard which was originally discovered in the 1940s, according to the DIO. One of the artifacts was a terret ring, which would have been used on Celtic chariots to help guide the horse reins, the organization said. The piece is likely 2,000 years old. 'We'd been briefed on the sort of things we could expect to find, so when I uncovered the piece, I was pretty sure it was an Iron Age terret ring,' veteran David Ulke said in the release. 'To say I was over the moon is probably an understatement! I've been involved in archaeology for many years and this was by far the most significant recovery I have ever made.' A current servicemember, Graham Moore, discovered a bridle bit dating to about 60 A.D., according to the DIO. 'The search for the lost hoard was hard work and we had a huge area to cover. It wasn't until the final day — with just 10 minutes to go — that I discovered the horse bridle-bit,' Moore said in the release. 'At first the team thought I was joking, but quickly realized I'd found something special. Words could not explain how I felt in that moment, but it was a wonderful experience.' Adam Gwilt, a curator at Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales where the pieces will be donated, said the items were well-preserved and likely dragged onto the land that now makes up the airfield 80 years ago from a nearby lake. The items were likely thrown into the lake as part of a religious practice at the end of the Iron Age, around the time the Romans invaded Wales, and the island of Anglesey, Gwilt said in the release. The entire hoard now includes more than 150 bronze and iron objects from between 300 B.C. and 100 A.D., according to the DOI. 'These finds at RAF Valley are extremely exciting for all involved; the Llyn Cerrig Bach hoard is of national importance for Wales, and the United Kingdom as a whole,' DIO senior archaeologist Richard Osgood said in the release. 'These new discoveries have confirmed the suspicions of earlier archaeologists that there was more to be found from this particular hoard.' Anglesey is on the northwestern coast of Wales, on the coast of the Irish Sea.
