Unlicensed nurse had been fired for drug diversion

St. Petersburg, Florida — The nurse who'd been unlicensed for 18 years while she worked as an instructor of medical certification programs at Pasco-Hernando Community College, had been fired previously for suspected drug diversion.

Sandy Wilbanks, 59, was arrested Wednesday.

According to the Pasco County Sheriff's office, she gave PHCC forged documents to prove she was a registered nurse when she was hired in 1990. But the school never double-checked until this year, when PHCC was up for accreditation. When they did, they found no record of Wilbanks ever having a nursing license in the state of Florida.

State law did not require Wilbanks to have a nursing license, but PHCC did.

According to documents from the North Carolina Board of Nursing, Wilbanks was fired in 1988 for allegedly using drugs she had requested for a patient. Wilbanks allegedly ordered three vials of Nubain, a narcotic analgesic, and five ampules of Phenergan. But when nursing supervisors checked, no patient had received those drugs.

Wilbanks did not comment on the charges against her Thursday.