Ohio Board of Nursing: Stark County nurse falsified vaccination cards for unvaccinated people
The Ohio Board of Nursing has disciplined a former Stark County Health Department nurse for providing COVID-19 vaccination cards to unvaccinated people.
The registered nurse, who received her license in 2018, worked for the county Health Department from November 2020 until October 2021. According to the board's disciplinary record – a consent agreement finalized March 10 – she filled out vaccination cards for herself, her boyfriend and three family members.
“On September 30, 2021, the health commissioner and the director of nursing questioned her about filling out vaccination cards for individuals who did not receive the vaccine,” the record states. “She admitted that she filled out five vaccination cards and had one additional blank vaccination card in her possession.”
The nurse told a state board enforcement agent that she did not enter false records into the Ohio Impact Statewide Immunization Information System or receive money in exchange for the cards. She returned them and resigned on Oct. 12, 2021.
Nurse says ‘her judgment was clouded’
Stark County Health Commissioner Kirkland Norris declined to comment on personnel matters.
The Canton Repository is not naming the nurse because she has not been charged with a crime.
The woman reportedly expressed remorse in the interview with the enforcement agent, stating that “her judgment was ‘clouded' due to fear, uncertainty, and the politics of the pandemic.”
The consent agreement allows her license to remain active if certain conditions are met within six months. They include:
● Payment of a $500 fine
● Completion of a 10-hour critical thinking course
● Completion of education courses related to COVID-19
● Completion of a four-hour professional accountability and legal liability course
● Completion of a two-hour Ohio nursing law and rules course
The nurse's license will be automatically suspended if she fails to comply with the agreement. According to the state board, she had no prior disciplinary record.
An attorney who represented the nurse said neither he nor his client would comment on the matter.