In honor of National Nurses Week, I want to highlight interviews I’ve done with some amazing nurses working on health and homelessness issues in the Seattle area. I had the pleasure of working with Eric Seitz, RN, when he was completing his BSN nursing degree at the University of Washington. He was the class president. I interviewed him right after graduation. He spoke of his own journey through homelessness and heroin addiction on the streets of Seattle when he was a teen and young adult. About how he almost died on the streets from a “flesh-eating” bacterial infection in his leg. About his two-month stay at Harborview Medical Center and the role of nurses and others there who provided quality and compassionate care. About his decision to turn his life around with the help of friends and family members–to become a nurse to help other people living in addiction and homelessness. And to work as a street medic to provide first aid at protests and to help “spread calm.”
Almost ten years after graduating, Eric has worked as a public/community health nurse in the Seattle area. He worked for a while at Harborview Medical Center, a place he credits with saving his life. He worked as a “HOTT Nurse,” (Housing Health Outreach Team). And he has worked as the head admissions RN at one of our too few low-barrier substance use detox and intensive inpatient facilities. He is doing amazing work. As he says, he can “empathize with all the suffering.”