If you’ve worked with Erik Heirman, you know he is a nurse who “gives his whole heart” to his job and his patients, according to leadership. He talked to us about how he became a nurse and why he appreciates his team: “Just having that amount of competency and and teamwork available to us is absolutely top-notch.”
Hi Erik! How did you get into nursing? Did you always want to be a nurse?
No, I am the generation of nurses that got into it because of the Great Recession. Graduating in 2009 from undergrad with a history degree got me a job at Trader Joe’s, and I was really lucky to get that.
We love Trader Joe’s. And then you went to nursing school?
Yeah, I ended up in nursing school. I’ve always enjoyed helping people. I wanted to be a teacher with my first degree, so I found something kind of in the same vein that was recession proof and gave me direct access to to helping people. I actually joined the AmeriCorps right out of college for a year. Then I ended up in nursing a couple of years later and finished that in 2013. I started working in 2014.
That’s cool. So what was your first job out of nursing school beyond AmeriCorps?
I started as a Med Surg nurse at Detroit Receiving Hospital and then I quickly moved to the emergency room at Henry Ford Hospital, also in Detroit.
How did you connect with Tribal Health?
I worked with a travel nurse here in Tucson, and she ended up with Tribal Health out at Sells. As I was finishing up my contracts here in Tucson, she said, “Why don’t you come and work with them?” And that’s how I got a hold of you guys.
And how long has it been now?
It’s been 18-19 months already that I’ve been working for Tribal Health. It’s been the best agency job I’ve had. I’ve been doing agency work since 2016.
The Native populations have been by far the most pleasant populations to work with, especially coming from inner city settings. Working with a population who is polite, has manners, is respectful – it’s hard not to go the extra mile for these guys and ladies out here. They’re just that wonderful of a patient population.
Oh, that’s really nice. What’s your favorite memory so far?
I mean, there’s there’s been some some rough situations out there, but those also make for the most memorable. 14 months ago or so, we got a CPR in progress into the department and the department was completely busted already and we were able to not only manage all the patients that were there, but come together as a code team, run an efficient code, get the patient out, and we flew them out in about a 90 minute period.
Just having that amount of competency and and teamwork available to us is absolutely top-notch. That’s something that we can’t do at a lot of larger facilities very often. So that’s probably my most memorable – that successful outcome. I never followed up to to find out what happened with the patient after the fact. But you know, from our emergency standpoint, it was a successful outcome of a terrible situation.
So do you think you’ll stay working on the reservation?
I would like to continue working on the reservations, absolutely. As with everywhere in the country, I feel like there’s a lot of uncertainty and I don’t feel like unfortunately that that we’re immune from that. That’s also just the nature of contract work. Everything is always in flux, right?
So my goal is is to continue working on the reservations. I liked it so much I brought my wife out there too, and she’s a nurse with us now as well.
I didn’t know that. That’s really awesome. So do you guys talk shop together when you’re home?
I’m a male nurse, and if you know too many of us, we prefer to just clock out and not even think about it. But I hear more shop talk than I would like to admit at home.
That’s funny. So you have a pretty diverse background where you’ve done different types of nursing, different locations. Where do you see yourself going in the future?
That’s a question I’ve been asking myself since 2013 when I graduated nursing school. But going forward, my wife and I are still working on our next five-year plan.
We have a lot of dreams, and I’m hesitant to share them here, but I can tell you that I’m very excited for what’s in store for us and I’m very lucky to be sharing this adventure with her.
That’s amazing! So what do you like to do in your spare time?
I’m a pretty avid cyclist and hiker. I mean, Arizona is the perfect state for us to be in, in my opinion.
Yes, and I think November is the perfect month here. It’s just gorgeous.
We spent about six weeks tooling around Southeast Asia, scuba diving this spring. Absolutely fantastic, amazing experience.
All in all, we both feel very, very privileged to be working with Tribal Health and the community that we’re serving. Very privileged and lucky to be there.
Thanks, Erik!
