A 33-year-old man worked as a nurse at ARRISCA (health clinic in São Miguel island)  between June 2021 and the following month without the necessary qualifications. A source from our newspaper also said that this ‘fake’ nurse worked in several valences of the association, including ARRISCA’s Mobile Unit 2, where he was tasked with administering methadone hydrochloride to several users. Correio dos Açores also knows that, in early July 2021, an internal note from the institution reported the entry into the office of several people, including this 33-year-old man who worked as a nurse at ARRISCA for a considerable time. The man had presented false information in his application and never delivered his certificate of qualifications (indispensable in a process like this) to the institution. The situation dragged on for some time. Only a few months later, when the situation began to cause strangeness, this non-profit organization decided to investigate the case and filed a criminal complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office after discovering the hoax.

In a written response, Correio dos Açores asked for a reaction from the ARRISCA Board, which informed that it had denounced the case and is “awaiting the decision  from the justice system.”

“Regarding the information requested, we are to inform you that a complaint has been made in the appropriate instances. The Board believes it should not comment since the case is under investigation. We await the decision, and the institution proceeded according to the law (making a complaint and suspending the element with subsequent dismissal) as soon as it had doubts about the certification of the person in question. No incidents have occurred during the period of his employment. The ARRISCA Board has nothing more to add and is awaiting the decision of the courts”, so reads the statement.

The Order of Nurses states this is an “unprecedented case” in the Azores.

Contacted by our newspaper, the Regional Section of the Azores of the Order of Nurses, through its President, Pedro Soares, confirmed, after a search of all records, that the man in question “has never been enrolled or demonstrated any intention to be enrolled in the Order of Nurses in Portugal. He does not have a professional card issued by the Order of Nurses”, he stressed.

The President of the Regional Section of the Azores admits that he sees this situation “with great concern.”

“We are facing a case of usurpation of functions at the nursing level, which is punishable by law. It also demonstrates here some failure in the institution at the level of hiring the subject because all institutions are obliged to require at least professional certifications when hiring their employees. Here, the subject either delivered false statements to the institution or did not deliver the professional card, “he said. Clarifying that “it is completely impossible to practice the profession without being registered with this Order,” Pedro Soares reveals that this “is an unprecedented situation” in the Region and guarantees that, regarding this case, “there was no contact by ARRISCA.” Given these facts, the President of the Governing Board of the Regional Section of the Order of Nurses also explains, “now that we are aware of the situation through the media,” that “an investigation process will be opened and the necessary measures taken.”

“I repeat, we are facing usurpations of functions, a crime in Portuguese law. At this moment, we will open an investigation process. We will make a complaint about the person and the whole process that allowed him to exercise the functions of a nurse “, he guaranteed.

From a news article in Correio dos Açores newspaper-Translated to English by the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) through the Azorean-Diaspora Media Alliance, Bruma Publications, and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures at Fresno State and published in Novidades, from Bruma Publications at Fresno State as a community outreach program.