America\u2019s nurses are too white and too female, according to the influential organization that purports to represent the interests of five million nurses nationwide.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The American Nurses Association (ANA) has become fixated on race and embraced radical political ideology over the last few years, exemplified by the organization\u2019s former president complaining about the \u201crows of white ladies\u201d who head up nursing programs. The 130-year-old organization\u2019s recent racial activism was flagged in a <\/span>scathing report<\/span><\/a>, first shared with The Daily Wire, by Do No Harm.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The association plays a key role in advocating for nurses by increasing research and funding, carrying out workplace advocacy, and advocating for better pay for nurses. The ANA is the membership arm of the American Nurses Association Enterprise. Despite its important function, Do No Harm argues the medical body has been infected with ideology, with an acceleration around the time of the 2020 riots.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Do No Harm argues that the organization should revert to its former focus on representing nurses rather than pushing racial politics.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe ANA\u2019s descent into extremism is alarming and has contributed to the indoctrination of our nation\u2019s most important frontline workers,\u201d Dr. Kurt Miceli, chief medical officer at Do No Harm, told The Daily Wire. \u201cInstead of working to train and support hardworking nurses, the ANA has dedicated time and resources to promoting the ideas of radical activists. Nursing, at its core, is a profession that seeks to serve patients with compassion and foster healing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n One of the culprits pushing the association to embrace racial ideology was the organization\u2019s former president, Ernest Grant, now the vice dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion at Duke University School of Nursing, <\/span>according<\/span><\/a> to his LinkedIn. Do No Harm said that the politicization\u00a0of the association increased during Grant\u2019s leadership of the organization.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n After he was elected to head the organization, Grant said that he would be focused on encouraging \u201cdiversity in the nursing profession,\u201d suggesting the nursing profession was too white and too female.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIn 2015, only 19.5% of RNs in the workforce identified themselves as minorities, and only about 12% of baccalaureate and graduate nursing students in 2016 were men,\u201d he <\/span>said<\/span><\/a> in 2018. \u201cIt\u2019s important that the nursing workforce reflects the diversity of our patient populations.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Following the death of convicted felon George Floyd, Grant <\/span>said<\/span><\/a> that racism was a \u201clongstanding public health crisis that impacts both mental and physical health\u201d and that COVID impacted black people more than white people. He later <\/span>characterized<\/span><\/a> the unrest that followed the death of Floyd as \u201cpeaceful.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In an October 2021 <\/span>podcast appearance<\/span><\/a>, Grant said that he liked to tell medical school officials to pretend to be a different race or gender to push their understanding of diversity. He also said he was \u201ctaking steps\u201d to try to change how the nursing profession was predominantly white and female. <\/span><\/p>\n He told deans and directors of nursing programs to \u201cimagine themselves when they pull into their assigned parking space at their place of work, when they\u2019re getting out of the car, take on another personality, take on like a person of color or another gender.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd as you\u2019re walking into your building, look at what your particular school of nursing is saying to someone who may be from a different background or a different gender,\u201d he continued. \u201cIs it welcoming? Or do you just see rows and rows of white ladies who were deans, either they\u2019re former deans or current deans of the program? What about your faculty? Does your faculty represent diversity? And are there people of color there? Are there men on the faculty there as well?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI mean, nursing is over 80% white and about 80% female, and of course, that\u2019s what you see on TV. So, we are taking steps to try to change that by encouraging more nurses of color or people of color to go into nursing as a profession and more men as well to consider the nursing profession,\u201d he added.<\/span><\/p>\n During Grant\u2019s tenure, the American Nurses Association helped launch the National Commission to Address Racism in Nursing (NCARN) with the purpose of motivating \u201call nurses to confront individual and systemic racism.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The organization <\/span>claims<\/span><\/a> that \u201cracism is historically rooted in the nursing profession and continues today.\u201d The organization blames the number of white nurses on \u201cactions from predominantly white groups and others who may view themselves or their group as superior\u201d and <\/span>alleges<\/span><\/a> that white nurses \u201care advantaged and privileged by unfair structural and systemic practices.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n To define racism, the commission <\/span>relies<\/span><\/a> on the work of radical leftist Ibram X. Kendi, the author of the book \u201cHow To Be An Anti-Racist.\u201d The commission produced a list of the \u201cTop Ten Ways to be an Antiracist in Nursing,\u201d which ironically suggests that people should stop \u201clabeling others\u201d and \u201cdistribute power.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n American Nurses Association.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In June 2022, the American Nurses Association put out a \u201cracial reckoning\u201d <\/span>statement<\/span><\/a> that pledged the organization\u2019s board of directors to \u201ccontinue to reckon with and apologize for past harms that are made known to ANA,\u201d and implement DEI analysis through all programs of the association. It said the association would continue to work with the commission to \u201ccreate antiracist practices and environments,\u201d implement DEI, and provide \u201ctransparency\u201d to the racial makeup of the association\u2019s leadership.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Starting in March 2022, the ANA rolled out a series of trainings called \u201cEquity in Action: Dismantling Racism in Nursing.\u201d During one session, Georgetown dean of nursing Roberta Waite gave a presentation on \u201cHow do we ensure health equity in a society built on white supremacy and oppression?\u201d Waite shared a slide placing \u201cwhite supremacy\u201d at the center of oppression surrounded by things like \u201ccapitalism,\u201d \u201cnationalism,\u201d \u201creligious supremacy,\u201d \u201cpatriarchy,\u201d and \u201cheterosexual supremacy.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2026\/03\/Screenshot-2026-03-23-at-2.39.51-PM.png\")
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