Nurse “Probably Caused” Babies’ Broken Bones But “Never Intended” Harm, Lawyers Claim

Erin Elizabeth Ann Strotman, 27, a former Virginia NICU nurse accused of physically abusing infants, has pleaded no contest to charges of felony child abuse against nine infants. Her plea of no contest came with a negotiated deal with prosecutors that she will never work as a nurse or work with children again.

'No contest' pleas are used when the defendant neither admits guilt nor innocence, instead accepting sentencing as if they are guilty, but avoiding future civil case charges. She will receive sentencing in June 2026, when victims' families will be able to testify.

Her lawyers released a statement saying they were "satisfied" with the result of the case and maintain that Strotman "never intended" to harm any of the infants, but admitted that "she probably caused some of these injuries, if not all of them.”

Nurse.org first reported on the case when the initial charges were leveraged against Strotman, but here are some additional key details about the case. It was stated in the Comm v. Strotman plea facts that injuries of this nature are extremely rare in NICU cases because the babies are not able to move themselves in a way that the injuries could occur. 

Mysteriously Injured Infants First Appeared in 2023, and the Hospital Failed to Investigate in a 'Timely' Manner

There are a total of 20 charges against Strotman, with nine infants involved who suffered unexplained injuries, but the first set of injuries occurred in 2023, when four babies were found to have fractured bones.

The specific injuries in 2023 were:

• A closed displaced transverse fracture to the left radius
• Radial fracture
• Ulna fracture
• Right rib fracture
• Distal femoral fracture
• Left radial fracture
• Left radial bucket fracture
• Non-displaced left tibial fracture
• Bruising 

The injuries were dubbed 'concerning non-accidental trauma' by both the VCU Child Protection Team and the hospital's radiologist. 

While the hospital did conduct an internal investigation, performed additional employee training, and placed Strotman on administrative leave at that time, the Virginia Department of Health's investigation revealed that Henrico Doctors' Hospital did not report those initial four injuries in a timely manner. 

The internal investigation resulted in no criminal charges and revealed some gaps in safety, including:

• Charting didn't document all the caretakers who were with the infants
• There were no videos of in-room care of the infants (only hallway videos were recorded)
• The card swipe system was not always functioning

However, no single individual could be identified, so no further action was taken. 

Only One Year Later, Strotman Returned to Work, and More Babies Showed Injuries

In September 2024, Strotman was permitted to return to work after completing the mandatory child abuse awareness training required of all employees. However, later investigations revealed that Strotman was the only employee who was required to do four additional shifts of training with a preceptor before returning to work.

No injuries were recorded or reported while Strotman was not actively working. After she returned, the infant injuries showed striking similarities to the first batch:

• Impacted distal left femoral metaphyseal fracture
• Right proximal tibia fracture
• Possible rib fractures
• Ulta and radius fractures
• Metacarpal fracture

While Nurse.org has not been able to verify this, there are also allegations of possible racial implications, as the majority of babies that Strotman allegedly injured were Black, while Strotman is white. 

Video Footage Showing Stroman Handling a Baby is Labeled 'Concerning'

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A second investigation was opened, which involved poring over hundreds of minutes of video footage to try to find any evidence. One video from November of 2024 of Strotman caring for an infant showed behavior that was labeled 'concerning':

"The video shows this defendant taking baby Y.H. by the legs, then applying pressure to the legs. In the recorded video footage, this defendant is seen placing her body weight on the legs of Y.H. She is then seen taking both legs and pushing them backwards so that Y.H.’s ankles are touching his head. During this period, Y.H. is crying and clearly in distress."

 At that point, Strotman was observed moving the left leg back and forth in a way deemed "inconsistent" with a leg that's not fractured.

Another video displays what looks like Stortman placing her own weight on an infant patient. 

After the initial video was found that grabbed the investigator's attention, more 'concerning' videos of the nurse were uncovered. Her actions in several videos with babies were labeled 'dangerous' and 'inconsistent with acceptable standards of nursing care.'

In a summary of facts discussing the observed buckle fractures of the radius and ulna, Robin Foster, MD, a board-certified Child Abuse Pediatrician, explained a professional opinion of how the injuries would have occurred:

• Someone would have to push in and put compression force on the arm for the radius to buckle the way it did.
• A buckle fracture could have happened if the child was on a flat surface and was being pressed forcefully down into the mattress ofthe isolette, like if a full-sized adult transferred all her weight onto one of the extremities. 

Dr. Foster added that the mechanism that Strotman was observed using on one of the babies could have caused the injury.

Strotman Stated She Was Giving 'Regular Care' and Didn't Do Anything She Was 'Concerned About'

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Strotman was officially arrested on Jan 2, 2025, and gave several statements about her behavior with the babies:

• “I honestly didn't at the time feel like I was putting all my weight on him. Nothing was going on that day. Okay. And if it, if it looked rough, it was unintentional. Okay. Because I, I do the, I like, if you go back to the other rooms that I've been in too. I do it to the other babies as well."
• "I didn't think that that was rough. Other people have seen me do it."
• “I would like to stand by my work. And, um, I did not personally think in the moment at any time that I was being too rough with the children? Yeah. Or with the infants. I, I don't feel like I did anything out of the ordinary that they do for assessments on the unit."
• "I don't always feel like, I don't wanna say that videos aren't always the, um, greatest depiction...I just feel like a lot of the stuff that we do could look rougher on camera than it actually is or that it was intended to be."
• “It looks like I put my weight into it...No. But that's what it looks like. I'm doing what I'm taught."
• “I could see how in that video it seemed more force forceful than it needed to be. But the, um, that was not the intention. I just feel like I was doing what I was taught to do. Okay. So I just feel like I don't, you do, you follow orders, you do what you're supposed to do. And then you end up in situations like this."
• “I feel like it, it can be perceived as a little too rough. How, like on the video it looks, it looks like I did lean my weight into him. Okay. With his history and the prematurity sort of, but in the moment it didn't feel too rough. A little? Yeah. After seeing the video? Yeah.”

More Evidence Uncovered

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During the investigation, another alleged infant victim's family came forward, alleging that their infant was under Strotman's care in 2022 when she suffered from diffuse fractures found to be consistent with child abuse. 

And while not directly part of the cases of injured infants, it was also revealed that Strotman had text messages suggesting she was physically abusive to her significant other and may have had a history of mental health conditions and had expressed concern over potentially abusing some of her prescribed medications in 2024. 

A doctor also ruled that none of the injuries the babies displayed could have occurred spontaneously, even with fragile bone syndrome or complications from prematurity. They also could not have happened with 'normal' infant handling, like diaper changes.

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Strotman Defended Herself, Saying That She Treated All The Babies The Same Way the Past Two Years

Strotman's primary defense, other than saying that the fractures could have happened with any nurse or caregiver, due to the premature infants' susceptibility to injury by having fragile bones, was that she treated all her patients the same during her time as a NICU nurse.

She alleged that because her care happened in view of others and she was trained correctly, if there were concerns over how she handled the babies, someone would have spoken up.

“I just, I don't have words. I've, I've been practicing the same, I've been doing the same stuff for the past two years at that hospital in the NICU. And uh, like I can't even count how many countless people have watched me. So I'm like, I feel like if somebody like would've saw something that was concerning, I feel like they wouldn't just let it go. They wouldn't just let me treat a baby in a bad way…"

🤔Nurses, what do you think about this case? Share your thoughts in the discussion forum below!

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