Nurse seeks judicial review of disciplinary sanctions

An Iowa nurse is taking state regulators to court over disciplinary action related to fraudulent educational credentials.

Iowa Board of Nursing records show Lizette Ngamalue of Johnston was awarded an Iowa nursing license in March 2020 and worked for three years as a licensed practical nurse until the board discovered the educational credentials she had submitted as part of her license application were fraudulent.

According to the board, one of the nursing schools Ngamalue claimed to have attended, the National School of Nursing and Allied Health, was among several alleged diploma mills investigated for fraud as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Operation Nightingale.

According to the board, in 2021 Ngamalue applied for a license in Florida using a degree from a different program called Siena Education Center, which was another program investigated by the DOJ for issuing fraudulent nursing degrees.

In July 2023, Ngamalue agreed to surrender her Iowa nursing license.

In May 2025, Ngamalue applied for a new Iowa nurse’s license based on a verified degree received from Mercy College of Health Sciences. The board alleges that at its Oct. 9, 2025, hearing on Ngamalue’s license application, Ngamalue said she was unaware of the fraudulent nature of her initial degrees and asserted she was unsure of the dates she had attended either Siena or the National School of Nursing and Allied Health, as she had “blocked out” that time period.

Late last year, the board agreed to award Ngamalue a registered nurse’s license to practice in Iowa, subject to two years of probation and monitoring.

In its written decision, the board expressed concern that Ngamalue “was not forthcoming about her previous education and failed to answer basic questions about the two schools where she fraudulently obtained credits, which made the board question her sincerity.”

In December 2025, Ngamalue filed a request for reconsideration of the probation and monitoring requirements, alleging the sanctions were irrational, illogical and arbitrary. The board denied her request for a new hearing on the matter.

Ngamalue has now filed suit against the board, seeking judicial review of its actions.

In her petition to the court, Ngamalue argues the board’s actions amount to “punishment which is unnecessarily punitive and prohibitive to (her) ability to practice.”

The board has yet to file a response to the petition.