A TikTok creator who posts as Alexis Rose under the handle travelingnurse said in a video that a nurse in Virginia was in jail over alleged injuries to premature infants. On-screen text in the video described a nurse jailed for deliberately breaking the bones of Black NICU infants.
Rose said she had told her followers many difficult stories on her page, but called this one “particularly f–ked.” She named the nurse as Erin Strotman and said she had been working at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital in Richmond, Virginia.
Rose said that, according to the hospital, at least three infants in the month of November had unexplained fractures and that all of them were Black. She added that four other Black babies suffered similar injuries over the course of the summer.
The convicted nurse a year of paid leave and a later return to the NICU
Rose said the nurse was being held without bond at Henrico County Jail and had a court date set for March 24. She then pointed to what she called the craziest part of the account: that the hospital already knew what was going on.
She said the nurse was put on paid administrative leave for an entire year in 2023, came back to work in 2024, harmed more babies, and was only then put in jail. Rose asked, “You’re telling me you had a nurse that you knew was harming newborn, like, neonatal infants, and, and you put her back on the floor?” The hospital’s accountability is questioned, as a different case involved a nurse refusing to let a Black mom hold her baby after a C-section.
She said she hoped the families would “sue f–king everybody.” Rose also said she used to get really defensive when people said that nursing is the equivalent of cops for white ladies, but “I get it now.”
Separate reporting described a later court outcome. People reported that Erin Strotman pleaded no contest to accusations that she abused nine premature babies. Jail records cited by People showed she was booked on Friday, June 5, after nine counts of child abuse involving babies she treated at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital between 2023 and 2024.
People reported that Strotman was arrested on Jan. 3, 2025, in connection with an incident involving a baby at the hospital in November 2024. The hospital had opened an investigation into multiple babies who suffered “unexplainable fractures” in the NICU, the outlet said.
People reported that she pleaded no contest on Jan. 15 and received a maximum sentence of 45 years, five years for each baby she allegedly abused, which was suspended to three years. People also reported that surveillance footage connected Strotman to the incidents and showed her mishandling the babies in the NICU.
Henrico County Police had said Strotman faced charges of malicious wounding and felony child abuse in connection to an incident that occurred in November 2024. Detectives were “re-examining the 2023 and 2024 cases as part of this broader investigation,” the department said at the time, according to People.
In December 2024, the hospital said it would not be “admitting any additional babies into our NICU at this time” after three babies were found with fractures in late November and December. Those injuries were described as similar to an incident involving four babies in the summer of 2023.
The Virginia Board of Nursing accused Strotman of putting heavy pressure on babies’ legs and abdomens, using “excessive force,” and lifting them while only holding their heads, according to WRIC. Strotman’s attorneys argued that her actions came from techniques she learned while working in the NICU and that she never meant to hurt the babies in her care.
Noah Hackey was among the babies named in that coverage. People reported that he fractured his tibia while in the hospital’s NICU in September 2023. His parents received a letter from Henrico’s Department of Social Services stating that, following a thorough CPS investigation, the agency had determined the report to be founded level 1 for physical abuse of Noah by an employee of the Henrico Doctor’s Hospital NICU.
Following the sentencing, Strotman’s nursing license was revoked, and she was permanently barred from working as a nurse or a healthcare professional, People reported.
HCA Virginia said in a statement obtained by People that it was “shocked and saddened by this development in the investigation” and was focused on continuing to care for patients and supporting colleagues. The case highlights ongoing concerns about how hospitals handle complaints against nurses, as a Black ICU nurse was pulled from patients after a coworker’s complaint.
Viewers of Rose’s video shared their own NICU stories and reactions in the comments. One commenter wrote, “mine, a fractured collar bone in nicu, they tried to say *rough birth* I asked for med records & they *couldn’t find* her xrays & suddenly everyone left to out of state hospitals.”
Another commenter said the video brought them to tears. They wrote, “i can’t lie just reading the video made me tear up, i can’t imagine how people can hurt such fragile, precious babies. this is one of the hardest videos I’ve watched on here.”
A third commenter described an injury involving a preemie’s face. They wrote, “My preemie had all the skin, nose to ear, ripped off one side of his face. I was told he did it to himself w/ tegaderm. He was 3 1/2lbs and had hypotonia. But he did it to himself. Also in VA btw.”
Published: Sep 10, 2026 08:00 am