Fake Nurse Gets 6 Years In Prison After Using Stolen License

An Arkansas woman has been sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to working as a nurse at two Northwest Arkansas healthcare facilities without a license, using the stolen identity and credentials of a real nurse from Virginia to pull it off for nearly a year.

Alicia Flanagan, 57, of Bella Vista, pleaded guilty on March 13, 2026, in Washington County Circuit Court to two counts of practicing medicine without a license and two counts of nonfinancial identity fraud. Circuit Judge Joanna Taylor sentenced Flanagan to 73 months in prison with an additional 36 months suspended. She had been scheduled to go to trial just days later when she changed her plea to guilty.

Court documents note that Flanagan does not have a nursing license, degree, or certification, despite briefly attending college.

How Flanagan Pulled It Off

According to a probable cause affidavit from detectives with the Washington County Sheriff's Office, Flanagan fraudulently used the nursing credentials of Alicia Pierce, a licensed nurse from Virginia, to obtain healthcare employment. Flanagan and Pierce may have shared the same maiden name and both have Virginia ties, according to prosecutors.

Flanagan worked at Springdale Health and Rehabilitation Center under Pierce's credentials from September 6, 2022, through January 1, 2023. She was then hired at North Hills Life Care and Rehab in Fayetteville on May 4, 2023, again using Pierce's identity. That second application is what triggered the investigation: the Arkansas State Board of Nursing noticed the credentials being used and contacted Pierce directly. Pierce told investigators she had no idea her license was being used by anyone.

The Director of Nursing at Springdale Health and Rehab reported the situation to police in June 2023 after being alerted by the nursing board. Facility spokesperson Joe Perkins told 5NEWS: "The lady in question worked for us for a relatively short period of time, and we discovered that her license was fraudulent. We reported the fraudulent license to the authorities, of course, and when we discovered that fraud, we terminated the relationship with the lady."

Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Denis Dean described how Flanagan constructed the fraud: "The defendant did a good job of selling herself as this other person. She had done her research online. She found this other person's identity, another person's license."

The Arkansas State Board of Nursing issued Flanagan a cease and desist on November 30, 2023, for being an unlicensed practitioner. An arrest warrant was issued on November 13, 2023, and Flanagan was booked into the Washington County Jail on April 25, 2024. She initially pleaded not guilty before changing her plea to guilty just before trial.

Why License Fraud Is a Serious Threat to Patient Safety

Cases like Flanagan's are a stark reminder of the gaps that can exist in employer verification processes. A person without any nursing education or licensure worked in direct patient care roles at two separate facilities across multiple months before being caught. Patients at both facilities were cared for by someone with no verified clinical training.

For real nurses, this kind of fraud is both a professional and personal threat. Pierce, the Virginia nurse whose identity was stolen, had her credentials used without her knowledge or consent. Her license, her name, and her professional reputation were all at risk because of someone else's crime.

The Arkansas Department of Health notes that employers and the public can verify nursing licenses directly through the Arkansas State Board of Nursing's online portal, and cautions that physical license cards or printed copies should never be accepted as reliable verification.

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What Nurses Need to Know

License fraud and identity theft targeting nurses is not a new problem, but cases like this one highlight how real and damaging it can be. If you are a nurse, it is worth periodically checking that your credentials are not being used by someone else. You can verify your own license status and check for any unauthorized activity through Nursys.com, the national nursing license verification database, or directly through your state board.

For nurses working in hiring or management roles, this case is a pointed reminder of why primary source verification, going directly to the state board rather than relying on paperwork or copies, is the only reliable way to confirm a candidate's credentials before they begin working with patients.

 

Flanagan's sentencing closes the criminal chapter of this case, but the broader issue of license fraud in healthcare remains a persistent challenge for the profession and the patients nurses work to protect every day.

🤔 Nurses, have you ever had concerns about a coworker's credentials or encountered issues with license verification? Share your thoughts in the discussion forum below.