ALJDEC - Licensing
23A-2023010631-NUR · State Board of Nursing · 2024-01-08
IN THE OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS
IN THE MATTER OF THE REGISTERED NURSE LICENSE NO. RN223001 ISSUED TO:
MONIQUE AUSTIN
AKA: MONIQUE LA SHELLE AUSTIN,
RESPONDENT
No. 23A-[number redacted]-NUR
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE DECISION
HEARING: November 30, 2023, with the record held open until December 18, 2023.
APPEARANCES: Respondent Monique Austin appeared on her own behalf. The Arizona State Board of Nursing was represented by Assistant Attorney General Charles S. Hover, III.
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE: Tammy L. Eigenheer
EXHIBITS ADMITTED INTO EVIDENCE: Board’s Exhibits 1 through 8.
_____________________________________________________________________
FINDINGS OF FACT
The Arizona State Board of Nursing (Board) has the authority to regulate and control the practice of nursing in the State of Arizona, pursuant to Sections 32-1606, 1663, and 1664 of the Arizona Revised Statutes. The Board also has the authority to impose disciplinary sanctions against the holders of nursing licenses for violations of the Nurse Practice Act, Ariz. Rev. Stat. §§ 32-1601 to -1669 and Ariz. Admin. Code R4-19-101 to -815.
Monique Austin (Respondent) holds Board-issued Registered Nurse License No. RN223001 in the State of Arizona.
On or about January 25, 2023, the Board was informed by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing that the FBI had announced its investigation into the scheme to sell false and fraudulent nursing degree credentials and names 25 defendants with Palm Beach School of Nursing identified as a school in the scheme. The Board initiated the instant investigation as a result of the report.
On or about May 23, 2016, Respondent was licensed as a Registered Nurse through the Hawaii Board of Nursing and indicated she received her Associate’s Degree in Nursing from Palm Beach School of Nursing in 2014.
On or about November 7, 2016, Respondent was granted a Registered Nurse license by endorsement through the New York Board of Nursing and indicated she received her Associate’s Degree in Nursing from Med-Life Institute on October 3, 2016.
On or about December 18, 2018, Respondent applied for an Arizona Registered Nurse license by endorsement and indicated she graduated from Palm Beach School of Nursing in February of 2015.
On or about January 25, 2019, Respondent submitted a Med-Life Institute diploma dated October 3, 2016, and signed Johanah Napoleon, Campus President and Cheryl Stanley, Campus Director.
A signed affidavit by Johanah Napoleon, the sole owner of four nursing school programs, including both Med-Life Institute and Palm Beach School of Nursing, set forth the following:
Ms. Napoleon was the sole owner of Quisqueya School of Nursing LLC, doing business as Sunshine Academy from February 26, 2014, through the date of the affidavit, April 3, 2023.
Sunshine Academy was authorized to provide instruction on campus to individuals seeking a diploma in practical nursing.
Ms. Napoleon was the sole owner of Med-Life Institute from September 28, 2015, until it was dissolved on September 23, 2016.
Med-Life Institute was authorized to provide instruction on campus to individuals seeking an Associate in Science Degree.
Ms. Napoleon was the sole owner of Palm Beach School of Nursing from its incorporation on or about April 11, 2016, through the date of the affidavit, April 3, 2023.
Palm Beach School of Nursing was licensed by the Florida Commission for Independent Education and the Florida Board of Nursing and was authorized to offer a Nursing - Associate in Science Degree. Palm Beach School of Nursing was authorized to provide instruction on campus to individuals seeking an Associate in Science Degree.
Ms. Napoleon was the sole owner of Quisqueya Health Care Academy, LLC from its incorporation on or about May 8, 2018, through the date of the affidavit, April 3, 2023.
Quisqueya Health Care Academy, LLC was licensed by the Florida Commission for Independent Education and the Florida Board of Nursing and was authorized to offer a practical nursing program. Quisqueya Health Care Academy, LLC was authorized to provide instruction on campus to individuals seeking a diploma in practical nursing.
Exhibit A to the affidavit was included with the affidavit with two attachments, A and B. Attachment A was a list of names for students who successfully completed the requirements of the nursing school program and were legitimately awarded a degree or diploma. Attachment B was a list of names for students who did not successfully complete the requirements of the programs. The students in Attachment B paid money to these programs in exchange for fake degrees or diplomas and transcripts. Respondent was identified by name, date of birth, and social security number on Attachment B.
Ms. Napoleon did not maintain legitimate student files for any individuals on Attachment B because they were not legitimate students of any of the programs. They did not complete the required hours of instruction, including clinical instruction, required for graduation from Palm Beach School of Nursing, LLC and/or Med-Life Institute with a diploma or associate’s degree.
Ms. Napoleon personally mailed some of the fake degrees and diplomas and transcripts to the individuals on Attachment B and was aware of the other people who created and mailed fake degrees and diplomas and transcripts to the individuals.
Ms. Napoleon prepared Attachments A and B by reviewing her financial records and payments that were made to Palm Beach School of Nursing, LLC and Med-Life Institute, by the individuals.
Ms. Napoleon had been criminally indicted for conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud and had pleaded guilty to the charges.
On or about March 17, 2023, Board staff received an Investigative Questionnaire from Respondent including the following narrative description of the events:
Unfortunately, the institution by which I obtained by RN Diploma is currently under investigation. My nursing education & clinical training were completed at Jersey College School of Nursing. My dates of attendance were 2013-2015. I have attached my unofficial transcript for your review, which will show I completed the program in its entirety. At the end of senior seminar, I did not receive a passing grade on the required Exit Exam. Therefore, I was not conferred an unable to be issued a diploma. This left me to research institutions willing to accept transfer nursing credits. I discovered Med Life Institute which was a fully functioning legally operating Nursing School accredited by the Florida Board of Nursing. I met the requirements, completed there [sic] admission process and was officially accepted into their program. Transfer credits were applied and I was required to take a refresher course. At the end of that course, a passing grade of 80% or higher was required on their Exit Exam. I met both requirements. My degree was then conferred and I was awarded my RN Diploma. The allegations against me are inaccurate and through your investigation I am confident that you will find the allegations unfounded.
On or about May 4, 2023, Respondent spoke with Board staff and stated she received her degree from Med-Life Institute. Respondent stated when she first started the program, it was called Palm Beach and then transferred to the name Med-Life Institute and she did not know why. Respondent stated she completed her coursework at Jersey College School of Nursing, but did not pass the Exit Exam. Respondent indicated she took a refresher course at Med-Life Institute in Florida, and the course took approximately 6 weeks. After she finished the class, she took Med-Life Institute’s Exit Exam and was awarded a degree. Respondent stated she stayed in a hotel in Florida while taking the refresher course. Respondent believed she was there from February 2015 through March or April 2015. Respondent could not recall exactly how much the course cost. When informed she was identified by her name, date of birth, and social security number as an individual who fraudulently obtained a nursing degree, Respondent denied the allegation.
On or about May 5, 2023, Respondent submitted 114 documents to Board Staff purporting to be evidence that she did not fraudulently obtain her degree. Included in the documentation was the following:
A folder from Sunshine Academy
A receipt for $150.00 to Med-Life Institute on February 19, 2015
A credit card receipt to Sunshine Academy of Nursing for $2,000.00
An admission packet for Med-Life Institute
An enrollment agreement for Med-Life Institute
A Jersey College Transcript Request form filled out by Respondent requesting official transcripts be sent to Med-Life School of Nursing dated September 15, 2016.
A ticket confirmation for a flight purchased on February 15, 2015 to depart New Jersey on March 6, 2015, to West Palm Beach, Florida and return to New Jersey on March 7, 2015.
On or about September 25, 2023, the Board issued a Complaint and Notice of Hearing alleging that cause existed to discipline Respondent’s registered nurse license under Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 32-1601(27)(a), (d), (g), (h), (j); and Ariz. Admin. Code R4-19-403(20), (23), (26), and (31).
The Board referred the matter to the Office of Administrative Hearings (the OAH), an independent agency, for an evidentiary hearing. A hearing was held on November 30, 2023.
The Board submitted eight exhibits and presented the testimony of Anna Anderson, Board Staff. Respondent testified on her own behalf.
At hearing, Respondent testified that she attended the Sunshine Academy from December 2014 through February 2015, but was awarded a degree from Med-Life Institute. Respondent indicated she had credit card charges in February 2015 of $2,000.00 and $1,000.00 for the refresher course. Respondent was unable to explain why she would be allowed to pay for the refresher course after it was completed. Respondent asserted that the school was always the same, but the name changed for reasons she did not understand. Respondent denied fraudulently obtaining her degree.
At hearing, Ms. Anderson testified that Respondent had never stated she attended courses at Sunshine Academy before the date of the hearing. Ms. Anderson reiterated that during her conversation with Respondent, Respondent stated she attended the refresher course from February 2015 through March or April of 2015, not December 2014 through February 2015. Ms. Anderson also pointed out that Med-Life Institute was not authorized to award nursing degrees or diplomas until September 28, 2015.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
This matter lies within the Board’s jurisdiction under Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 32-1606(B)(10).
The Board bears the burden of proof and must establish cause to penalize Respondent’s registered nurse license by a preponderance of the evidence.
“A preponderance of the evidence is such proof as convinces the trier of fact that the contention is more probably true than not.”
A preponderance of the evidence is “evidence which is of greater weight or more convincing than evidence which is offered in opposition to it; that is, evidence which as a whole shows that the fact sought to be proved is more probable than not.”
While it is believable that the name of the school an individual graduated from later changed and a subsequently-issued document from that school could then reference a different school name, Respondent’s accounts were simply not consistent with that situation.
Most significantly, Respondent offered a completely new school and dates of attendance at the hearing that she had never provided to the Board before.
Before the hearing, Respondent changed the name of the school she was attending from Med-Life Institute to Palm Beach School of Nursing, and at the hearing changed it again to Sunshine Academy.
At the hearing, Respondent changed the dates of her purported attendance from February 2015 through March or April 2015 to December 2014 through February 2015. However, Respondent previously provided a ticket confirmation from New Jersey to Florida and back on March 6, 2015, and March 7, 2015, as proof that she had attended the program. Respondent also submitted credit card charges in February 2015 as proof she paid for the program.
Respondent failed to provide any evidence that she stayed at a hotel for six weeks while attending the course.
Respondent’s ever-changing accounts established a lack of credibility.
Further, the affidavit of Ms. Napoleon provided substantial evidence that Respondent did not attend the classes necessary to obtain a degree or diploma from Sunshine Academy, Med-Life Institute, or Palm Beach School of Nursing.
Accordingly, the Board established by the preponderance of the evidence that Respondent engaged in unprofessional conduct as defined by Arizona statute. Thus, the Board established cause to impose a disciplinary sanction against Respondent’s license under Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 32-1663(D) and Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 32-1664(N).
RECOMMENDED ORDER
Based on the foregoing, the Administrative Law Judge recommends that the Board revoke Respondent Monique Austin’s Registered Nurse License Number RN223001.
Pursuant to A.R.S. § 41-1092.08(I), the licensee may accept the Administrative Law Judge Decision by advising the Office of Administrative Hearings in writing not more than ten (10) days after receiving the decision. If the licensee accepts the Administrative Law Judge Decision, the decision shall be certified as the final decision by the Office of Administrative Hearings.
In the event of certification of the Administrative Law Judge Decision by the Director of the Office of Administrative Hearings, the effective date of the Order will be forty (40) days from the date of that certification.
Done this day, January 8, 2024.
/s/ Tammy L. Eigenheer
Administrative Law Judge
Transmitted by either mail, e-mail, or facsimile to:
Joey Ridenour, RN, MN, Executive Director
State Board of Nursing
Monique Austin
[email redacted]
Charles S. Hover, III
Office of the Attorney General
[email redacted]
By: OAH Staff