Fake Florida Nurse Gets Slap on Wrist for Duping 4,000+ Patients

All right. All right. All right. You are. You are. Hold on. Hold on. We have plenty of time to talk. >> Everyone regrets, you know, not crossing. crossing their eyes, dotting their t's. >> That is Autumn Bardisa. Caught in the. act and what she did is straight-up. unbelievable. She worked as a nurse for. thousands of patients without a license, faking credentials, and fooling her. hospital for months. How did no one. catch her sooner? What happened when she.

finally was caught and forced to face a. judge? Guess what? We're going to talk. about that right now. We have brand new. developments in this case. Welcome to. Sidebar, presented by Law & Crime. I'm. Jesse Weber. So, imagine you show up to a hospital. You usually trust the people there. taking care of you, right? What if one. of those people isn't who they said they. were? That is exactly what happened in. Palm Coast, Florida, where Autumn.

Bardisa worked as a nurse. She wasn't. just bending the rules, she was. pretending to be someone else entirely, treating thousands of patients without a. valid license. So, how did she manage to. fool everybody? I'm going to tell you. She got caught, of course, and faced a. judge this week to pay the consequences. I'm going to tell you what those. consequences are. We're going to hear. from a legal expert who's going to break. down exactly what this all means, what. we should be thinking about, but I have. to tell you how all this unraveled,

okay? And Bardisa, by the way, spoke. following the sentencing. Her words. interesting, to say the least. So, according to the Flagler County Sheriff, 29-year-old Autumn Bardisa was hired by. AdventHealth Palm Coast Parkway in July. 2023 as an advanced nurse tech. She. claimed she had completed her nursing. education, that she passed the uh. national exam, but in reality, she. hadn't yet obtained a registered nursing. license and she apparently used another.

nurses license number registered to her. name Autumn Hood to make it look like. she had. Now her story about a new last. name after marriage. seemingly fooled her employer until she. was considered for a promotion and we're. going to get to that in a second. But. over the next 7 months the investigation. revealed that Bardisa had treated 4,486. patients during her time at Advent. Health all without a proper nursing.

license. >> Hey there. Are you Autumn? >> Yeah. >> Can you step out of the car for me, please? >> Sure. >> Can you turn around and put your hands. behind your back? >> Oh, wait. What's going on? >> Put your hands behind your back. >> Okay. My hands are crossed the street. >> Okay. All right. All right. >> Am I being arrested? >> You are. You're Hold on. Hold on. >> What can I. >> We have plenty of time to talk. >> Okay. >> Just give us just a minute. >> Can I see my phone? >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We'll take care of. that. >> Can I call my boss so I can tell her he. goes to this. >> Do you have any other weapons or.

anything like that? Anything. So let me just tell you this. There is a. felony warrant for your arrest, okay? The bond the bond There is a bond on it, okay? Which is good. It's I believe. 70,000 is the bond amount, okay? Um so you can bond out. >> What? For what? For what? >> Um Do you know what this is about? >> Not really. I kind of had something with. the Department of Health, but I have my. license.

>> Okay. >> And I thought it was squared away. because it's clear and active. >> Okay. So that that does stem from this. Um we were contacted. not me directly, but some. a guy with um Health and Human Services. reached out to you a couple months ago. >> Yeah, and I had had an attorney and I. hadn't heard anything since. >> Okay. So the attorney. reached out to him and said that you. were currently being represented and all. that other stuff. >> Yeah. >> I'd love to have a conversation with. you, but if you're represented by an. attorney and. that's somebody that wants to be here.

for all that that kind of questioning, I. obviously I'm limited on where this. conversation can go. >> Can I know what this is about? >> It's It has to do with with with medical. fraud. I can get the exact I don't. remember off the top of my head, but it. has to do with medical and stuff stuff. like that. >> Okay. >> You have um. You have seven counts of. uh. identity theft and seven counts of. practicing without a license. And this does stem from. everything with the Department of Health.

and Admin Health and all of that stuff. I mean you're you're already aware of. it. We you you've given statements to. them to other investigators before. This. is just your first time meeting me. >> Okay. Identity. >> So, no. I I've I've been with the other. guys whenever they're doing their. investigation, but I was not. face-to-face with you. >> Okay. I I've Okay. >> What's up? So, >> Can I just call my phone at least until. >> no no no worries. We'll let you do all. that. Um. now. we we can't just take the handcuffs off.

you because I mean you're I know you're. saying you're not going to fight, but I. mean you've seen TV. You watch the. movies like like you see. >> had a criminal record. I've never done. anything. >> I'm not saying I'm not saying you have, okay? But we just don't want to we don't. want it to escalate to some place that. we that we put it um. because we take the handcuffs off you. But what we can do is get the person. who's watching your child and if you. want to tell them what's going on, you. certainly can. I mean or if you want us. to tell them. >> Can I call them? Or can I Can you just. take them off so I can call her on the. phone at least? >> Yeah. Yeah, that's fine. >> Okay.

>> No no no. I'm not going to get it out, but I'm going to grab your phone. We'll. we'll we'll grab your phone and put it. on speaker for you. Yeah, we'll grab we'll grab your phone. and put it on speaker. No no the point. is that is that I'm not saying you're. going to do anything. We. we take the handcuffs off that gives you. the. it puts it there, okay? >> Okay. It's not working here. It's It's 0411. And can you go to recent calls? And then Gabby. Yeah. >> Jam Jam Okay. >> Yeah. >> Turn it off for you.

Looks like your front door's open. >> Yeah, it was locked. Yeah, please. >> Did you want to step inside out of the. heat? >> Yeah, please. >> Yeah. I mean no Anyone else inside the. house? >> keys, please? >> Okay. Can you. >> Can I put this on? >> Can anyone Is anyone else inside the. house? >> Just my dog, but he's home alone. Can these just be taken off? I I won't.

do anything. >> We can't take take them off for for. right now, okay? >> Can we walk to your house? >> Yeah, I mean I mean like I said just so. Yeah, I'll just move my car in the. driveway. >> I got to say this real quick. Have you. seen the headlines about how many. Americans are struggling with debt right. now? It's serious, but then it shows up, you know, it shows up in your own. numbers with rising balances and fees. and minimum payments stretching out for. years. Doesn't need to stay that way. though. Why do I say that? Today's. sponsor, PDS Debt, has helped hundreds. of thousands escape debt, reduce what.

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pdsdebt.com/sidebar. That's pdsdebt.com/sidebar. pdsdebt.com/sidebar. The Flagler County Sheriff's Office, the. Fugitive Unit, arrested Bardisa at her. Palm Coast home on August 5th, 2025. And. Sheriff Rick Staly called it one of the. most disturbing cases of medical fraud. that he has ever investigated, noting, "She potentially put thousands of lives. at risk.".

>> Uh, we believe that there were over. 4,400. uh, patients that she was in one manner. or another that was involved in care at. AdventHealth Palm Coast. Uh, which is our newest hospital in. Flagler County. >> That's the part, right? This is not a. harmless crime. So, how did this slip. through the cracks for so long? Well, Bardisa had apparently told HR that she. had passed her licensing exam. And when. this promotion came up in January of.

2025, a colleague ran a license check. And that is when the expired CNA license. was discovered. Oh, and she also. apparently never produced a marriage. certificate to match the credentials. that she claimed. And this is from. Bardisa's sworn complaint filed in. January of 2025. But even stranger, the. nurse whose credential she used, Autumn. Rubba, went to school with Bardisa, but. didn't know her personally. Two Autumns. And both work for AdventHealth, just at.

different hospitals. This is according. to the Flagler County Sheriff's Office. Unbelievable. Now, authorities also. found reports that Bardisa had. administered prescription medications to. co-workers, including Ozempic and birth. control injections. Although I will be. clear, no drug charges were filed per. the complaint. So, she's caught at home, cops at the door, body cam rolling, and. you think, "Okay, case closed, right?". This is where it gets real. State wasn't. just going to let this slide. Bardisa. was hit with multiple felony charges for.

practicing without a license and. pretending to be somebody else, according to Flagler County court. records. And over the next several. months, she faced hearings and. pre-trials and mounting evidence, but the twist, instead of going through. a full trial, Bardisa ended up pleading. no contest to the charges. April 7th, she stood in front of a Flagler County. judge, and well, you know what? We'll get into exactly. what the judge decided in a moment. But. why we want to talk about it, joining us. Florida trial attorney Alexis Rosenberg.

Haven't seen her in a minute, want to. talk about it. So, don't give away the. sentence. We'll talk about what the. sentence is. But why why plead no. contest? Because instead of going to. trial, she ended up withdrawing her. previous plea of not guilty, entered a. plea of nolo contendere I I I. mispronounce this. Is it nolo. contendere? I I think I'm saying it. right. Two charges, unlicensed practice. of a healthcare profession and. fraudulent use of personal. identification. That's according to the. Flagler County court records. Why do you. think she did it? >> So, this particular plea, which is we.

call it in law land a nolo, uh it. basically is pleading guilty without. admitting guilt. Pretty much that what. it is. And it's something that is kind. of a carve out in Florida. Some other. states might have it, but it's not. across all states that you have this. plea available. So, it's not unusual for. defendants to take that type of plea if. they're leaning towards taking a not. guilty plea. They that's the plea. they'll take. >> What was the advantage of it? Like why.

not just plead guilty? I always wonder. is it like is it something like I'm not. going to stand in front of court and. admit I did this, but I'm not going to. fight the prosecution. I'm not going to. fight the case. Is there something about. I don't want to admit it? Is it. preserving your rights in any way? >> Well, you're not admitting it and it's. pretty standard in Florida. It's kind of. unusual for a defendant who's taking a. plea to plea what you you're talking. about not guilty, those exact words. So, it's not unusual. Um the benefit there's.

not necessarily any benefit other than. the fact that you're not really. admitting anything. So, potentially. from a. you know, a civil standpoint, there's. some things that apply there that are. slightly different when you take that. plea. But from a criminal standpoint, not really. >> Um are you surprised based on the. evidence? >> It was some good lawyering, that's for. sure. I mean, we had a lawyer that went. in and ultimately negotiated a really. great plea for her. So, I am surprised,

but as we had spoken when this initially. broke, you know, I thought that the. prosecution was going to have an uphill. battle because she was hired and she did. have one license. So, was this a. situation as we had previously discussed. where maybe she was practicing outside. her scope, but didn't really rise to the. level of criminal in nature because she. did have that certified nurse assistant.

license. Um she just didn't have the. license related to the RN. >> Mhm. I hear you. I hear you. So, she. ended up doing this. And then you go to. April 7th, okay? And the court handed. down her sentence and Bardisa was. sentenced to 60 months of probation, no. early termination allowed until 36. months. So, you're also equal to 5 years. probation. Again, no early termination. until 3 years in. Uh permanently. forfeited her li- uh her nursing.

license. She's barred from working in. the medical field and she was also. ordered to complete moral recognition. therapy, perform 50 hours of community. service, and submit a sincere apology of. at least 500 words. Now, we cover a lot. of different sentences here on Sidebar. This is a little different one. Talk to. me about it. >> Well, it's definitely a little different. and this This judge was very. sympathetic, it seemed to her because. she was going through, you know, you. went to school, you took some initial.

testing, you didn't really there's no. evidence that you harmed any patients. It seems that you were actually acting. as a pretty good nurse. Um, and she did. go through all of that. Really, the only. thing that the judge said was she didn't. get that licensure, which is kind of. important. So, you know, I do think it's. unusual that she gave her just this. probation, but I think the real teeth in. this is the fact that she's never going. to be able to practice again. And in a.

way, the judge thought that was sad. because it seemed like she could have. been a really great nurse and the public. needs great nurses. >> Do you think this sends a message? Not. that I've seen a ton of cases of someone. doing this or to this degree, but does. this send a message to other people who. are accused of uh, falsely practicing? >> I would say it does not send Well, yeah, it sends a message that you could just. get no penalty. But, I think what was. different in this case was one, which. the judge said was she had actually gone. to nursing school. So, it wasn't like we.

had, which you see especially there's a. lot of cases out of Miami, where you. have someone coming from another country. and, you know, they're down in Miami in. their garage and they're doing plastic. surgery and they have no medical. training. She was very clear to kind of. make it distinction, the judge, on the. record about that as well as no one was. harmed. There was no evidence that. anybody was harmed. But, no, I don't. think it sends a very strong message. because the bottom line is she did lie. to the employer and misrepresented that.

she was a licensed nurse. And they did, thankfully no one got hurt, but they did. let her treat patients as a nurse and in. that capacity and someone could have. gotten hurt. >> What about the apology letter? Why is. that impactful from a legal point of. view? Why uh, order someone to do that? >> I I mean, personally I think it's. ridiculous. I mean, they do this with. school-age kids and I think it's. ridiculous then as well. I I I think.

that maybe the judge was just trying to. think of some creative penalties. Maybe. to have her sit down and really think. about what she did and how this was. definitely a poor decision, but does it. have any impact on the victim? I don't. think so. And I don't think from a. punishment standpoint I I mean, my. personal opinion is I think it's a. little ridiculous. >> Well, she spoke at her sentencing and. she also talked to the media afterwards. and she said something. about whether this should ruin her life.

Here's what she said. >> Everyone regrets, you know, not crossing. crossing their eyes, dotting their tees, making sure everything was complete, but. I think a mistake shouldn't ruin. someone's life. >> So, Alexis, she called it a mistake. I. mean, she was accused of treating over. 4,400 patients without a license. She. was accused of stealing another nurse's. identity. Mistake? Is that what you want. to say after you do this and after and. maybe it kind of gives you an idea of. the way that she played, but also after.

the judge, you know, granted a sense of. leniency. >> I wouldn't say it's a mistake. I. definitely think it was a. you know, poor decision on her part, but. I do believe it was intentional. She gave that other nurse's number. You. know, there's no way around that. So, she had the intent to do what she was. doing. I do think though that the. employer at Ben Taub, you know, is. responsible as well because they have an. obligation to make sure that their.

nurses and medical professionals are. appropriately licensed and credentialed. So, but that shouldn't take off of her. actions. I mean, in essence is her whole. life destroyed? No, but I mean, she's. definitely going to need to find another. career. She's not going to likelihood. even after this is over that the nursing. board is going to give her a license is. very slim. Not necessarily impossible. because she can reapply later when this. is done. Um but it's highly unlikely.

that Florida is going to give her a. nursing license because she was ordered. that she couldn't be she had to. relinquish the one she had which I. believe had already expired, the um the. certified nursing assistant. And that. she can't go and practice in the medical. field and she can't apply for any. licensing for that five years. After. that she can, but it's up to the. licensing board and the licensing board. under these circumstances probably is.

not going to issue her a license. >> That was interesting because at the. beginning you said, you know, there. might have been an uphill battle for the. prosecution, but on the other hand you. just said the idea of taking someone's. identity, she couldn't get past that. So, do you think she would have been. found guilty if she took this to the. trial? >> For some of the charges, yes. I think. that the problem, the practicing the. identity fraudulently using somebody. else's identification, I think that was. pretty clean. That was a that would have. been fairly easy for the prosecution. But the practicing without the license.

was going to be much more difficult. because she was hired in a medical. capacity. She did have that lesser. license and really got into what exactly. was she doing? Because before she gave. that number, she was still working in. the in some sort of medical capacity and. they would have had to go through all. the billing and all of the things to. show the medical records what exactly. was she doing and did it cross over from.

that certified nursing assistant which. she was initially and the things she was. initially hired on to over did the. actual duties cross over beyond that. scope into that RN scope. >> It's a good point. Well, uh this is the. conclusion unless she, you know, gets. back in the news somehow. We don't have. any reason to believe that, but just an. interesting conclusion to a very. interesting case. Alexis Rosenberg, thanks for taking the time. >> Thank you for having me as always. >> And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so.

much for joining us and as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple. Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should. get your podcast. You can check us out. on NBC's Peacock as well. If you want to. follow me at Instagram, my NewsNation. show Jesse Weber Live, Monday through. Friday, 11:00 p.m. Eastern. I'll see you. next time, everybody.