"THE ASSOCIATED PRESS"

NORWALK, Conn. -- A 56-year-old woman who was honored at a 2008 dinner as the so-called Connecticut Nursing Association's "Nurse of the Year," was charged with pretending to be a nurse. Prosecutors said Betty Lichtenstein had been had been working in a doctor's office.

According to the arrest warrent, that association does not exist and Lichtenstein spent more than $2,000 of her own money to stage that dinner.

Inspectors from the state's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit began investigating after a patient complained about Lichtenstein.

She faces up to five years in prison if convicted of charges reckless endangerment and criminal impersonation.

Lichtenstein did not immediately return a telephone message for comment." Seattle Post-Intelligencer, August 6, 2009

Why is it people want to be a nurse so badly that they pose as one? Has anybody here ever worked with someone who ultimately turned out to be a phony? In my opinion this woman and all others who pose as nurses should be prosecuted to the full extent of any applicable state laws.

I just missed working with a phony when I started my nursing career.  She had just gotten charged, and fired.  My friends said that she did her entire med pass in five minutes.  My friend 'L'  had decided to follow her, she was taking all the meds and THROWING THEM OUT.  Additionally she took her scissors and cut the abx piggbacks in half, before throwing them in the dirty utility room.  She had stolen someone's license and ID.  I guess she worked for a couple of months before they found her out.