SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A Shelbyville woman pretending to be a nurse is charged after treating thousands of patients without a license.
Shelbyville police received an anonymous tip about Bobbie Gail Blair, 49, who worked at the in-house medical clinic at the Tyson Foods plant.
Detective Nathan Everhart found Blair graduated from the Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) program at the Tennessee College of Applied Technology in McMinnville in 2007. However, records from the Tennessee Board of Nursing showed Blair failed the National Council Licensure Exam (NCLEX) twice in 2007. She never took the test again.
Detective Everhart also said Blair was using a fake license with a number of two legitimate LPNs from Tennessee, but it's unclear who forged the document. Everhart was able to get into contact with one of the nurses, who said she didn't know Blair or anyone else in Shelbyville.
"It's just something that slipped through the cracks," said Detective Everhart. "I don’t think anyone there knew that she didn’t have a license. They assumed she did."
Blair has worked at the clinic since 2007, and Detective Everhart estimated she treated around 15,000 patients during that time. Blair is also the wife of the plant manager.
The medical clinic at the plant is staffed with five nurses, who treat employees injured on the job. Injuries can range from minor cuts and wound care to amputated body parts.
An anonymous team member at Tyson Foods released a statement that said, in part, "It infuriates and sickens me that someone would impersonate a nurse or any other medical professional. She undermined and downplayed our licensed professional medical judgment and actions to give the utmost care to our team members and patients. Not only has she done this to us, but the Tyson corporation, as well."
Blair is charged with 10 counts of impersonation of a medical professional and two counts of identity theft. She was arrested Friday and has been released on a $10,000 bond.
A spokesperson for Tyson Foods released a statement saying: "We take this issue very seriously. While we don't comment on active criminal matters, as soon as law enforcement reached out, we fully cooperated."
