A Palm Coast woman accused of practicing as a nurse without a license has been sentenced to five years of probation. 29-year-old Autumn Bardisa pleaded no contest to unlicensed practice of health care and fraudulent usage of I.D.
Bardisa’s sentencing came on April 7, from Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols. Because she pleaded no contest, Bardisa avoided up to ten years in prison, with a minimum of 23 months. She was also required to forfeit the nursing license she eventually did earn, and write a letter apologizing to a nurse whose license she reportedly stole.
Deputies with the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office arrested Bardisa in August 2025 after she was accused of treating 4,486 patients without proper licensing. She worked from June 2024 to January 2025.
Her employer, AdventHealth, did not catch the discrepancy until well into her active employment. It took until AdventHealth determined Bardisa may deserve a promotion that her most base-level credentials were finally verified. AdventHealth has not commented despite requests from multiple media outlets.
During her time with AdventHealth, Bardisa was not the subject of complaints from patients under her care. She did complete much of the training required of licensed nurses, but did not pass the exam she needed to enter her field legitimately. To accomplish this, Bardisa is accused of using the name of a colleague named Autumn Hood, saying that she’d recently married and changed her last name.
In Tuesday’s sentencing hearing, the real Amber Hood blasted Bardisa for the latter’s deception. Judge Nichols, however, contested that since Bardisa had completed almost all the training necessary to become a practicing nurse, there was not evidence of immediate danger to the patients she treated.
Chris Gollon is a Flagler County resident since 2004, as well as a staple of the local independent music scene and avid observer of Central Florida politics, arts, and recreation.
