Day 5: The Confederate Nurses Enterprise - A Thought Experiment

As of today, March 20, 2026 two hundred and thirteen days have passed since the verdict in Joppy v. HCA HealthOne, the landmark case at the intersection of racism in nursing, workplace mobbing and Civil Rights. 

The enterprise hasn’t commented on the verdict in Joppy v. HCA HealthOne. They’ve never acknowledged the facts underlying the case, or even responded to direct outreach by several people over several years, which leads to the obvious question: What’s their strategy? 

We can only speculate, so I developed a list of ten potential reasons why the enterprise hasn’t said anything about Joppy v. HCA HealthOne. We’re exploring each of these ten possible reasons over ten business days, and after four days evidence shows: 

1. The enterprise has been aware of Joppy v. HCA HealthOne since early to mid 2022, when Joppy’s claims of race discrimination and retaliation were filed in US District Court;
2. The enterprise is at least aware of the issues in Joppy v. HCA HealthOne, i.e. race discrimination and retaliation in the nursing workplace;
3. The enterprise may not understand or appreciate the legal and historical significance of Joppy v. HCA HealthOne, which if true is a dereliction of duty.
4. The enterprise does more than just comment about ongoing cases, according to their CNO, “(W)e often have outreach with the individual or their representative or their attorney and we let them tell us what would be most helpful, particularly when it’s a legal issue.”

Here’s what’s left:

5. The enterprise doesn’t comment about individual cases or cases involving discipline, they only focus on issues of concern to the nursing profession;
6. The enterprise finds the facts of Joppy v. HCA HealthOne disquieting;
7. The enterprise fears Joppy v. HCA HealthOne undermines its branding;
8. The enterprise fears it might upset its most dominant demographic if it mentions Joppy v. HCA HealthOne;
9. The enterprise is aligned with the Defendant in Joppy v. HCA HealthOne;
10. The enterprise has a financial conflict regarding Joppy v. HCA HealthOne

Today is Day 5

5. The enterprise and the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) haven’t said anything about Joppy v. HCA HealthOne because they don’t comment about individual cases or cases involving discipline. They only focus on issues of concern to the nursing profession.

AACN is an organization specifically for nurses like Ms Joppy who work with the most seriously ill and injured patients. AACN was asked for support on several occasions.

"AACN does not comment on active court cases or disciplinary matters… AACN's advocacy focuses on issues of concern to our members and the nursing profession, not situations involving individual nurses. Our statements after RaDonda Vaught's conviction and sentencing addressed the potential impact of those specific court decisions on patient safety."

The organization went on, “AACN’s comments about RaDonda Vaught were focused on the greater issues of Just Culture practices and patient safety in the face of criminal prosecution for a medication error.”

Joppy v. HCA HealthOne is NOT “a case involving discipline” and it is NOT a “situation involving individual nurses” It’s a Civil Rights case that went to trial in U.S. District Court. Plaintiff Joppy proved, and a jury unanimously found, by a preponderance of evidence, that a group of white nurses leaders in the intensive care unit at a magnet(tm) hospital discriminated and retaliated against a Black nurse because of her race, and because she complained about race discrimination.

They concluded, “AACN recognizes that racism in healthcare exists… (and) considers healthy work environments one of our highest advocacy priorities and we will continue to invest our resources to advocate for work environments that are safe, healing, humane and respectful of the rights and needs of all people including patients, their families, nurses and other healthcare professionals.”

The enterprise also prepared press releases supporting RaDonda. The first was promptly issued on the same day as her guilty verdict for criminally negligent homicide and gross neglect of an impaired adult. The original press release may have been deleted, but here’s the same reaction as expressed by their New York state affiliate. 

“(T)he criminal conviction of Nurse (sic) RaDonda Vaught, should raise serious questions for nurses and all healthcare providers about the malpractice system in the United States. The conviction of this nurse for a tragic medication error will make all providers worry that reporting errors could move professional disciplinary procedures beyond the administrative/civil system to criminal proceedings.”

The enterprise also issued a press release on the same day the Court chose judicial diversion - supervised probation, three years plus two years for a total of five years, served concurrently over three years. “We are grateful to the judge for demonstrating leniency in the sentencing of Nurse (sic) Vaught. Unfortunately, medical errors can and do happen, even among skilled, well-meaning, and vigilant nurses and health care professionals.

After speaking with Vaught and her attorney, ANA sent a letter to the judge (pdf) which would be submitted into evidence on Vaught’s behalf. In fact, leading up to the sentencing hearing, ANA was in communication with Vaught and her attorney to discuss the best ways for ANA to provide support to Vaught…We were compelled to take this action because we all see ourselves in Vaught. Nurses see themselves in Vaught; our peers and colleagues and health care professionals beyond nursing see themselves in Vaught.”

Tenacious Defense if You’re Charged With Causing a Death: “In Tennessee, the maximum penalty for criminally negligent homicide is six years in prison (Class E felony), while the maximum penalty for the abuse of an impaired (vulnerable) adult ranges from six years (Class E felony) to 12 years (Class D felony) or up to 30 years (Class B felony) depending on the severity of the harm.” 

It’s unclear why the enterprise and AACN frame Joppy v. HCA HealthOne as an issue between individuals, as a disciplinary matter and as a matter not suitable for discussion in the nursing ecosystem because it’s being handled in the legal one.

It’s unclear why the enterprise and AACN don’t consider the workplace mobbing and racism evident in Joppy v. HCA HealthOne as important issues for nursing, patient safety and not relevant to their organizational advocacy.

As noted previously, “AACN recognizes that racism in healthcare exists… (and) considers healthy work environments one of our highest advocacy priorities…”   

Also as noted previously, the enterprise has expressed concern about racism in nursing and workplace mobbing.

Research by Srinivasa, Sandhu and Liao, Waite and Iheduru-Anderson, the Manning Price Spratlen Center for Anti-Racism & Equity in Nursing at The University of Washington School of Nursing and the Workplace Bullying Institute and many others emphasize the ubiquity of racism and mobbing in nursing, the damages inflicted on colleagues, patients and families, and the urgent need to address these issues.

Do the enterprise and AACN comment about individual cases?

Yes, they both commented on a case where an individual nurse was found guilty of two felonies. The enterprise did more than just comment.

Do the enterprise and AACN comment about cases involving discipline? 

Yes, they both commented on a case where an individual nurse found guilty of two felonies was also disciplined with termination and loss of license. The enterprise did more than just comment.

Do the enterprise and AACN only focus on issues of concern to the nursing profession? 

That’s what they say, which raises the question - why don’t the enterprise and AACN consider the racism and mobbing in the nursing workplace evidenced in Joppy v. HCA HealthOne as issues of concern to the nursing profession? Do the enterprise and AACN consider racism and mobbing in the nursing workplace as issues of concern for patient safety and community health?

The enterprise and AACN positions here are confusing and contradictory. They don’t seem to provide a reason for their nonresponses regarding Joppy v. HCA HealthOne.