Nursing licensing inquiry finds gap in process

The four applicants for Massachusetts nursing licenses didn't seem to have much in common. They gave addresses in Randolph, Everett, Milton, and Lihue, Hawaii. Their applications arrived between last October and June. All four claimed to already have nursing licenses from Hawaii, and each filed a form purportedly signed by Kathleen Yokouchi, identified as an officer of the Hawaii nursing board. There was one problem: Yokouchi retired five years ago. "OMG...these verifications are totally fraudulent," wrote Lee Ann Teshima, executive officer of the Hawaii Board of Nursing, in a Sept. 2 e-mail to an investigator with the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing.