When Pennsylvania State Police pulled over a Mercedes SUV south of Pittsburgh on April 5, 2025, for nothing more than a routine traffic violation—a driver who failed to signal—they hardly expected to stumble onto a sprawling web of deception that now has regulators and hospitals across the country on high alert. But that’s exactly what happened, and the fallout has exposed a troubling trend: the rise of so-called “fake nurses” working in hospitals, clinics, and care facilities without the necessary licenses or qualifications.
According to The Washington Post, the driver, later identified as Shannon Nicole Womack, handed over an expired vehicle registration that didn’t match her ID. That alone was enough to raise eyebrows. But after securing a search warrant, troopers discovered something far more alarming—multiple forms of identification, access badges for healthcare facilities, patient logs, and prescription medication not in Womack’s name. It quickly became clear that this was no ordinary traffic stop. Instead, police had uncovered a multistate scheme involving the impersonation of nurses, with Womack allegedly using the identities of at least 20 different people—including their Social Security numbers—to secure nursing jobs in multiple states.
Womack’s case is not an isolated incident. In fact, it’s just the latest in a string of similar frauds that have come to light across the United States. The Washington Post reports that a woman in Florida was recently arrested for allegedly posing as a registered nurse at AdventHealth Palm Coast, holding the position for an astonishing 18 months without ever having a valid license. These cases, while unrelated, point to what experts and regulators now fear is a growing national trend of “impostor nurses” slipping through the cracks and working undetected for years.
What’s driving this disturbing surge in fake nursing? The answer, it seems, is a perfect storm of circumstances. The COVID-19 pandemic placed unprecedented strain on the nation’s healthcare system, leading to severe nursing shortages and, in some cases, a relaxation of licensing restrictions. This made it easier for individuals to move between states in search of work, sometimes bypassing the usual checks and balances meant to ensure only qualified professionals are hired. Desperate to fill vacancies, some facilities may have turned a blind eye to red flags—or simply lacked the resources to conduct thorough background checks.
But there’s more to the story than just pandemic-era desperation. The problem is compounded by diploma fraud, as highlighted by Operation Nightingale, a federal investigation that uncovered a network of gray market “schools” selling fake nursing degrees. These fraudulent diplomas were then used by individuals to obtain licenses and jobs in the healthcare field. While most of these institutions were shut down in 2023 after prosecutors intervened, there are lingering worries that similar schemes continue to operate in the shadows, exploiting gaps in oversight and regulation.
States are now scrambling to respond. In Arizona, regulators have compiled a database of more than 130 individuals who have applied for or held nursing positions without a license between 2000 and 2024. Georgia and Texas have reported similar problems, with databases containing 40 and 140 names, respectively, of unlicensed individuals who managed to work as nurses. Many of these impostors were able to hold down jobs for years before being discovered, sometimes only by chance—like a routine traffic stop gone awry.
“Without a national repository, the scope of the problem remains unclear,” notes The Washington Post. Regulators are working to build more robust databases to keep track of impostor nurses and prevent them from being rehired elsewhere, but the lack of a centralized, nationwide system means that individuals can still slip through the cracks by simply moving to another state and starting over. The patchwork nature of state-level oversight makes it difficult to get a full picture of just how widespread the problem really is.
The details of the Pennsylvania case are particularly chilling. After pulling Womack over, police found not only the stolen identities and healthcare badges, but also patient logs and prescription drugs that didn’t belong to her. These items suggest that she was actively engaged in patient care, raising serious questions about the safety of those under her watch. The fact that she was able to work “regularly in nursing roles until the scheme was discovered by accident during a routine traffic stop,” as reported by The Washington Post, underscores just how vulnerable the system has become.
But Womack’s story is just one thread in a much larger tapestry of deceit. The Florida case at AdventHealth Palm Coast is a stark reminder that this isn’t just a problem for one state or region. In that incident, a woman managed to hold a position meant for a registered nurse for a year and a half before anyone realized she didn’t have a license. It’s a scenario that could play out almost anywhere, given the current climate.
So, what’s being done to address the crisis? Regulators in several states are working overtime to improve their tracking systems and share information more effectively. Arizona, Georgia, and Texas have all established lists of individuals who have been caught working without the proper credentials. Still, without a unified national system, the process remains reactive rather than proactive, relying on chance encounters and after-the-fact investigations to catch wrongdoers.
Meanwhile, the underlying causes—staffing shortages, relaxed licensing rules, and the lure of quick money through diploma mills—remain largely unaddressed. The temptation for bad actors to exploit these weaknesses is unlikely to disappear anytime soon. As the healthcare industry continues to grapple with the long-term effects of the pandemic, the need for vigilance has never been greater.
For patients and their families, the revelations are understandably unsettling. The idea that someone could walk into a hospital or clinic, present a fake ID, and be entrusted with people’s health and lives is enough to shake anyone’s confidence in the system. Yet, as the recent cases make clear, it’s a risk that’s all too real—and one that demands urgent action from both regulators and healthcare providers.
In the end, the story of Shannon Nicole Womack and the broader trend of fake nursing serve as a wake-up call for the entire healthcare industry. With gaps in oversight and a persistent demand for qualified staff, the temptation for impostors remains strong. Until a national solution is found, the burden will fall on individual states and institutions to stay one step ahead of those seeking to game the system—and to ensure that every nurse entrusted with patient care is exactly who they claim to be.