By-Line: Joseph Bober, Public Information Office, FCSO
A Palm Coast woman who spent months posing as a registered nurse and treating thousands of patients without a valid license has been sentenced following a no-contest plea in Flagler County court.
Autumn Bardisa, 29, pleaded no contest on April 7, 2026, to unlicensed practice of health care and fraudulent use of an identification. Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols withheld adjudication and sentenced Bardisa to five years of probation and 50 hours of community service. She is also required to send a written letter of apology to the nurse whose license number she stole. As part of the plea agreement, Bardisa forfeited her own nursing license — which she had earned after her August 2025 arrest — to the Florida Department of Health, and she is prohibited from practicing medicine for the duration of her probation.
Bardisa was originally arrested by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office in August 2025 after a seven-month investigation by the FCSO General Assignment Unit revealed she had posed as a registered nurse and treated more than 4,400 patients without holding a valid license. She had been using the license number belonging to a real, licensed nurse. She was originally facing seven counts of unlicensed practice of health care and seven counts of fraudulent use of personal identification information.
Sheriff Rick Staly commented on the case and its outcome. “Nursing is a noble profession about caring for those in need, but there is a right way and wrong way to go about it, and she chose the wrong way by using a real nurse’s license,” Staly said. “Because she chose to circumvent the rules, she ruined her career, and she potentially endangered patients. Rightfully, she won’t be able to work in the medical field for a minimum of three years and up to five years. I commend our detectives who worked hard to build the case to expose her crimes and impersonation. We did our job by successfully investigating this case. I also respect the prosecutor and the courts in the final sentencing decisions.”
With adjudication withheld, Bardisa was not formally convicted, though she remains under court supervision for up to five years and faces restrictions on working in the medical field for at least the length of her probation. The Florida Department of Health oversees nursing licensure in the state; more information is available at www.floridahealth.gov.
Original Story:
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office arrested a Palm Coast woman who posed as a licensed nurse and provided medical care to thousands of unsuspecting patients, following an investigation conducted in coordination with AdventHealth Palm Coast Parkway and multiple state and federal partners.
The seven-month investigation into Autumn Bardisa, 29, of Palm Coast, began in January 2025 after hospital administrators reported they had terminated Bardisa for impersonating a registered nurse by utilizing another individual’s license number and submitting false documentation to be employed as an advanced nurse technician at AdventHealth Palm Coast Parkway in Palm Coast.
According to the hospital, Bardisa was hired on July 3, 2023, as an advanced nurse tech, working under the supervision of a registered nurse. When applying for the position, Bardisa indicated that she was an “education first” registered nurse, meaning that she had passed the required schooling to become a registered nurse but had not yet passed the national exam to obtain her license.
During the hiring process, Bardisa then informed the hospital that she had passed the exam and provided a license number matching an individual with her first name, Autumn, but with a different last name. Bardisa attempted to explain the discrepancy, stating that she had recently gotten married and had a new last name. Bardisa was then asked to provide her marriage license to AdventHealth, which she never did.
In January 2025, Bardisa was offered a promotion, sparking interest among her colleagues. At that time, a fellow employee checked the status of Bardisa’s license and discovered that she had an expired certified nursing assistant license, which the employee reported to administrators. After opening their investigation, AdventHealth discovered that Bardisa had never provided her marriage license as requested to confirm her identity.
On January 22, 2025, Bardisa was terminated after she failed to confirm her identity. After terminating Bardisa, AdventHealth contacted the FCSO to conduct a criminal investigation. During the seven-month investigation, detectives and investigators with the Florida Department of Health and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reviewed documents and conducted interviews with AdventHealth employees and the nurse whose identity Bardisa stole.
The investigation determined 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. However, the two did not personally know each other.
During the criminal investigation, detectives determined that Bardisa had participated in medical services to 4,486 individuals from June 2024 through January 2025, despite never holding a valid nursing license.
On August 5, detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Bardisa for seven counts of practicing a health care profession without a license and seven counts of fraudulent use of personal identification information. The FCSO Fugitive Unit located Bardisa at her residence and arrested her on her active warrants. She was transported to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility, where she is being held on a $70,000 bond.
Autumn Bardisa is arrested by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Unit, Bottom. Autmun Bardisa (Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility mugshot), Top.
“This is one of the most disturbing cases of medical fraud we’ve ever investigated,” said Sheriff Rick Staly. “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. 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.”
Anyone who believes they may be a victim of Bardisa should contact the FCSO by email at fakenursecase@flaglersheriff.com for more information.
