05/31/2026
Let’s talk about the Jacoya Morgan story being shared online.
First, prayers to her family. 🕊️
This is not gossip. This is grief. This is workforce care. This is a systems conversation.
According to reports circulating online, worked a 12-hour shift at Birmingham Children’s Hospital and told leadership she felt sick. She was allegedly denied the ability to go home. After that, she reportedly collapsed and suffered a medical emergency. There are also allegations that CPR was not immediately provided.
If true, this should disturb every healthcare worker, every hospital leader, and every person who has ever been told to “push through” when their body was clearly warning them.
As a nurse, I keep coming back to one word:
Assessment.
When a healthcare worker says, “I don’t feel well,” the response should not be pressure, guilt, staffing panic, or punishment.
The response should be assessment, documentation, care, and safety.
One thing I teach Black career women and healthcare workers is this:
Stop asking permission to protect your body.
You are not begging.
You are not being difficult.
You are not abandoning anyone.
You are putting leadership on notice that you are unable to safely continue.
The language matters:
“I am sick and unable to safely continue working. I am notifying you that I need medical assessment and/or need to leave. Please document that I informed leadership.”
That is a mindset shift.
Because too many workers have been trained to override their bodies for jobs that may not protect them.
This is why Workforce Care™ exists.
We help Black career women and RNs recognize work fatigue before it becomes collapse, crisis, resignation, mislabeling, or long-term disability.
If your body has been warning you for more than six weeks, your next appointment matters.
Take the Work Fatigue Quiz™.