Fake Florida nurse who treated nearly 4,500 patients gets sweetheart deal; judge reportedly asserts she 'excelled at her job'



A Florida woman who fraudulently posed as a nurse and treated nearly 4,500 patients without a license escaped going to jail, according to multiple reports.

Autumn Bardisa of Palm Coast was arrested by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office in August 2025 for posing as a nurse and treating over 4,400 patients without a license.

'This is one of the most disturbing cases of medical fraud we've ever investigated.'

The Flagler County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that the 29-year-old pleaded no contest last week to unlicensed practice of health care and fraudulent use of identification.

A seven-month investigation originally led to 14 charges against Bardisa: seven counts of unlicensed health care practice and seven counts of fraudulent use of personal identification.

However, Bardisa will not face jail time.

The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported that Bardisa was sentenced to 60 months of probation, which can be terminated after 30 months.

Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols withheld adjudication, which means Bardisa will not be a convicted felon unless she violates the terms of her probation, according to the News-Journal.

Bardisa also was sentenced to 50 hours of community service.

WTVJ-TV reported that Bardisa is prohibited from practicing medicine during her probation.

Bardisa is required to send an apology letter to the nurse whose license number she stole.

"Incredibly poor judgment. Her actions were wrong," Judge Nichols said, according to the News-Journal. "She will pay for those actions severely."

The victim of the identity theft said during the hearing that Bardisa "chose to put countless lives on the line."

However, the judge interrupted the victim and ordered her to "stop the personal attacks."

Judge Nichols proclaimed, "There is absolutely zero evidence that countless lives were on the line. Zero evidence. As a matter of fact, the information that has been presented is that she was excellent in her job, and she excelled at her job."

The News-Journal reported that Josh Davis, Bardisa's defense attorney, said he was able to convince prosecutors to waive the one-year minimum mandatory sentence for practicing nursing without a license.

Davis argued, "The reason that we are in the courthouse is because she was really good at her job, and she makes people jealous."

"Some co-workers go back and do the digging, and that’s the reason we are here," Davis claimed.

According to the News-Journal, Bardisa maintained that there is "a lot more to the story" but did not offer further specifics.

"I'm just glad it ended up the way it did,” Bardisa stated. "And my daughter wasn’t harmed at all or didn’t have to face any of the backlash."

Bardisa added, "I think a mistake shouldn’t ruin someone's life."

RELATED: Florida nurse learns fate after husband caught her having sex with stepson; boy's mom blasts 'incestuous pedophile'

The Flagler County Sheriff's Office said in an August statement that Bardisa was hired July 3, 2023, as an advanced nurse tech at AdventHealth Palm Coast Parkway and was working under the supervision of a registered nurse.

Investigators said Bardisa applied for the position as an "education first" registered nurse — a designation for those who have completed their nursing program but have not yet passed the national licensing exam.

Police stated, "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 initially brushed off the discrepancy by claiming a recent name change due to marriage.

However, investigators said Bardisa never provided a marriage license to AdventHealth.

In January 2025, Bardisa was offered a promotion.

During the promotion process, a fellow employee checked the status of Bardisa's license and discovered that she had an expired certified nursing assistant license, which was then reported to health care administrators, according to police.

Authorities said AdventHealth administrators launched an internal investigation, which revealed Bardisa never verified her identity or her supposed name change.

On January 22, 2025, AdventHealth terminated Bardisa after she failed to confirm her identity, the press release said.

Following her firing, AdventHealth alerted the Flagler County Sheriff's Office.

FCSO detectives, as well as 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 determined that Bardisa stole the identity of another nurse, police said.

"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," the sheriff's office declared.

Police said Bardisa participated in medical services administered to 4,486 people from June 2024 to January 2025, despite never possessing the required nursing license.

Bardisa was arrested on August 5, 2025.

Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly proclaimed, "This is one of the most disturbing cases of medical fraud we've ever investigated."

"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," Staly said.

Sheriff Staly added, "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."

"Because she chose to circumvent the rules, she ruined her career, and she potentially endangered patients," Staly said.

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'Pure evil': Nurse pleads guilty to murdering multiple patients and attempting to kill at least 19 more



Heather Pressdee of Natrona Heights, Pennsylvania, worked at over 11 rehabilitation clinics between 2018 and 2023. She consistently got fired or had to resign on account of concerns over her abusive behavior toward staff and patients.

Pennsylvania's Office of the Attorney General conducted an investigation after receiving a referral about a patient under Pressdee's care in late 2022. It soon became clear that she wasn't just abusing patients — Pressdee was murdering them.

To avoid the death penalty, Pressdee, 41, has pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and 19 counts of criminal attempt to commit murder. She will, however, die in prison as a Butler County judge sentenced the killer nurse to three life sentences for the three confirmed murders plus 380-760 years of consecutive incarceration for her other murder attempts.

"The defendant used her position of trust as a means to poison patients who depended on her for care," Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry said in statement Thursday. "This plea and life sentence will not bring back the lives lost, but it will ensure Heather Pressdee never has another opportunity to inflict further harm. I offer my sincere sympathy to all who have suffered at this defendant's hands."

Pressdee's victims, who were spread over four counties at five different facilities, include Alice Stewart, Ann Victain, Betty Hutchison, Betty McQueeney, Elmer Allbee, Gerald Shrum Sr., Irene Simons, Purple Heart recipient Jack Rogers, James Bartoe, James Fair, Joseph Campbell, Louise Skinner, Marguerite Laskovich, Marianne Bower, Mary Colwell, Nicholas Cymbol, Norman Hendrickson, Ruth Erikson, Sandra Lincoln, and Sherry Stilitino. Their ages were 43-104.

Victims (Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office)

Blaze News previously reported that the victims had been at Concordia at Rebecca Residence; Belair Healthcare and Rehabilitation; Quality Life Services Chicora; Premier Armstrong Rehabilitation and Nursing Center; and Sunnyview Rehabilitation and Nursing Center — all locations where Pressdee served as a registered nurse.

Investigators indicated the killer nurse would load her victims up with fatal doses of insulin during overnight shifts when there were few staff members on hand and "often took steps to ensure her victims would expire prior to shift change so that they wouldn't be sent to the hospital where her scheme could be discovered through medical testing."

In the event that victims appeared as though they might survive, Pressdee took additional measures to snuff them out.

According to the criminal complaint, when insulin failed to kill one victim whom Pressdee later told investigators "needed to die," she administered a syringe full of air into the victim's catheter to create a lethal air embolism.

Pressdee appears to have developed a taste for killing after dropping out of the nursing program at the Community College of Allegheny County and becoming a veterinary technician. She later told investigators that during her 14 years providing "critical animal care," her duties included euthanizing animals.

The murderer later finished her nursing degree then went to work treating human beings like lesser animals.

A number of Pressdee's text messages to her mother that were detailed in the complaint hint at a murderous mentality, such as when she wrote:

  • "I'm gonna murder already" on June 10, 2022;
  • "If you get like this you will get pillow therapy," referencing a patient on June 26, 2022;
  • "She's gonna die!!!!" on July 5, 2022;
  • "I drugged him already and I don't know how he is awake" on Sept. 6, 2022;
  • "I'm going to kill this bitch on the phone" on Oct. 17, 2022;
  • "She could be dead, she hasn't made a noise since 9 and I'm not checking on her," adding later on Dec. 7, 2022, "Well she's alive and she may die now";
  • "Whatever I'm gonna stab a bitch today" on Jan. 21, 2023; and
  • "But I may kill this resident" on May 12, 2023.

In court, Phil DiLucente, Pressdee's defense attorney, attempted to humanize the murderous nurse, reported WTAE-TV.

"Let me just say this. There is not all bad in everyone. And you could see at the end, she was remorseful," said DiLucente. "There was a tear in her eyes, and some folks could see up in the jury box from the press that I handed her a handkerchief to wipe her tears away. So, at the end of the day, we're all human, and this is a very, very tragic — a tragic case."

Family members of the victims weren't fooled by the attorney's last-ditch effort and the killer's crocodile tears.

One relative told the judge, "She's not sick. She's not insane. She's evil personified."

Another victim's granddaughter told Pressdee, "You are not a nurse, you are a black mark on the nursing profession."

"She's pure evil," Melinda Brown, sister of victim Nicholas Cymbol, told WTAE. "There's no justice for this. We'll get justice when she meets her maker."

Elizabeth Simons Ozella, the daughter of victim Irene Simons said, "I'll never forgive her for what she did. We're angry and hurt that she disguised herself as a caring nurse."

"She took someone from this earth that she had no right to take," continued Ozella, "and she played God when she didn't have that right."

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KIDNAPPING HOAX: Alabama woman FAKES her abduction, gets off with misdemeanors



Carlee Russell, a 25-year-old Alabama nursing student, is facing two misdemeanors after faking her own kidnapping earlier this month.

On July 13, Russell called 911 to report a toddler wandering alone down the side of the interstate. When police arrived at the site, there was no toddler, no evidence of a toddler, and no Russell.

Russell’s car, however, was abandoned at the scene, which incited a widespread search involving local, state, and federal agencies.

Two days later, Russell showed up at her parents’ house claiming that a white man with orange hair had held her hostage.

“A white man – of course,” says Sara Gonzales, clearly annoyed.

Investigators were skeptical when they found Russell’s phone, which was left in her car.

“She had searches in her phone’s history that included the movie ‘Taken,’” which is about a young girl’s abduction, Sara reports.

Russell also searched for information about Amber Alerts.

“She was clearly searching terms that indicated that she wanted to fake her own abduction,” Sara says.

Russell’s strange abduction story was quickly disproven, and “her attorney later confirmed to police in a press conference that she did, in fact, just make everything up.”

As of now, Russell’s motives behind her kidnapping hoax are unclear.

“My personal opinion,” Sara says, “is that we are living in a society that is so narcissistic that she just wanted attention.”

Regardless of Russell’s intentions, she now must contend with charges for “false reporting to law enforcement and falsely reporting an incident.”

Many people have expressed frustration with Russell’s consequences, claiming that they are far too soft, especially considering “police dedicated resources to searching for her” – resources “that were taken away presumably from other actual emergencies,” Sara adds.

“They had $63,000 donated to Crime Stoppers to try to help find her,” Sara explains, adding, “I actually wish it was a felony.”

“She needs to be made an example of,” John Doyle agrees.


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WOKE mob RUINS woman’s life after video goes VIRAL



Sarah Jane Comrie, a New York City woman, is now the latest victim of the online mob.

Comrie is fighting claims that she’s a racist after a video of her refusing to give up her Citi Bike to a group of young black men went viral.

Comrie is pictured crying in the video and screaming “help.”

Activists took to Twitter to slam the woman, including Attorney Ben Crump.

He wrote, “A white woman was caught on camera attempting to STEAL a Citi Bike from a young Black man in NYC. She grossly tried to weaponize her tears to paint this man as a threat. This is EXACTLY the type of behavior that has endangered so many Black men in the past!”

It was later proven through receipts that the woman in question had paid for the Citi Bike, and the young black men were trying to take it from her.

Despite the woman being in the right, she was doxed online — and is six-months pregnant.

Sara Gonzales of "The News & Why It Matters" threw in her two cents.

“Yes, I’m sure that six-month pregnant woman is such a danger to that group of black men. I’m sure she stood a chance should any sort of fight break out,” Gonzales mocked.

Not only was the woman forced to leave her home because strangers were attempting to come after her and her husband, but her employer put her on leave after viewing the video.

She is now suing for defamation.

Eric July joined Gonzales to discuss the matter.

July says people online have been “race-baiting, calling her this and this and that just because she had a conflict with someone that is a different color than her. And this is why the race conversation in this country continues to escalate.”


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Viral, Out-Of-Context Clips Make Victims Like Pregnant Citi Bike Woman Into Villains Simply Because They’re White

Manufactured racial animosity is only made possible by out-of-context clips and willing accomplices in Big Tech and corporate media.

Virginia AG Probes Mounting Religious Discrimination Cases After Hospital Revoked Covid Jab Exemptions

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Nurse charged with murder after she injected 97-year-old man with 'something special' when he became agitated: Report



A nurse working in Lexington, Kentucky, has been formally charged with murder after reports state that she committed "intentional medical maltreatment" against an elderly patient who had become agitated.

James Morris, a 97-year-old WWII and Korean veteran, had been admitted to Baptist Health Hospital earlier this year after "a slip and fall injury," says a report from the state Board of Nursing. At some point during his stay, he had become agitated, and nurse Eyvette Hunter, 52, reportedly requested that he be given medication to calm him down. Her request was denied by both a doctor and a nurse practitioner, according to WKYT-TV.

Despite the refusals, Hunter was later allegedly spotted on April 30 injecting contents from a syringe either directly into Morris or into Morris's IV. When asked twice what she had administered to Morris, Hunter allegedly replied that it was "something special."

Reports claim that she gave him a dose of lorazepam, an anti-anxiety medication, which may have been intended for another patient. Lorazepam works by slowing brain activity.

Within a half-hour after the injection, Morris became sedated and began having difficulty breathing. When other medical care professionals attempted to assist him, they discovered that his oxygen saturation equipment had been turned off, presumably to silence its alarm.

The medical team managed to improve Morris's oxygen levels, but he had developed pneumonia from either some food or medicine he'd ingested. He then entered hospice, where he died two days later on May 5.

The report from the Board of Nursing claims that Hunter admitted to administering lorazepam to Morris without permission and that Morris died as "a direct result" of Hunter's actions.

"Despite the rapidly declining condition of the patient, [Hunter] never called for rapid response nor acted with any sense of urgency," the Board of Nursing stated.

Following a police investigation into the incident, Hunter was indicted for murder on Monday and taken into custody on Tuesday. She is currently being held at Fayette County Detention Center. Her bond has been set at $100,000.

The Kentucky Board of Nursing suspended her license after she was indicted. Baptist Health terminated her on April 30, though the hospital stated that she had no complaints lodged against her until her alleged treatment of Morris.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that Hunter was a traveling nurse who also worked at the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center, which likewise terminated her following her indictment. Until Monday, she had been a licensed and registered nurse in Kentucky since 2018. Before that, she had been a licensed LPN, beginning in 2007. The Herald-Leader claims Hunter had also been licensed as a nurse in other states, but which states and when she had been licensed remain unclear.


Nurse serving jury duty renders aid to fellow potential juror in distress



A Dallas-area nurse is being hailed as a hero for rendering aid to a fellow member of a potential jury pool who took ill in a courthouse last month.

Katherine Kreis, who has been a nurse for over twenty years, arrived at the Frank Crowley Courthouse in Dallas, Texas on June 27, in response to a summons for jury duty. She and about a hundred other people gathered in the Central Jury Room to find out whether they would be selected to sit on a jury.

However, while waiting her turn, Kreis noticed the man sitting next to her begin to exhibit signs of medical distress.

“I was sitting in the waiting room, waiting to be called, and I happened to notice the gentleman next to me was shaking and threw his phone,” Kreis recalled.

The man then began convulsing, and witnesses reported that someone shouted that he was having a seizure.

Kreis knew just what to do.

"At that moment, I got up and went over to him to help stabilize and make sure he wasn't going to injure himself," Kreis said.

"I've been a nurse for about 20+ years now, and cardio-thoracic surgery, cardiac telemetry, neuro patients, seizure patients, those are my kind of patients," she added.

Other members of the potential jury pool helped lay the man safely on the ground while a bailiff called 911.

The man is said to be recovering well from the episode.

Kreis also works as a clinical assistant professor at the University of Texas, Arlington School of Nursing, so she has lots of experience rendering emergency medical aid. She noted that the unnamed man had on him a list of medications and a list of emergency contacts, which helped her and other emergency medical professionals assess his condition and alert his loved ones.

Kreis believes that divine intervention may also have played a role in the sequence of events that led up to that day.

"I think I was supposed to be there for that reason. I’ve never been summoned to jury duty before so it was my first time to do that," she said. "And I wasn't real sure what to expect, and I really feel like it was a right place right time kind of thing."

Several judges and court staff members have since honored Kreis for her act of service, giving her a plaque and flowers to commemorate her good deed, which got her out of serving on the jury.

She hopes to be called to jury duty again some day.